REUTERS: Cotton dives to four-month trough on demand concerns
REUTERS: Cotton dives to four-month trough on demand concerns

REUTERS: Cotton dives to four-month trough on demand concerns

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Nov 1 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures extended losses for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday, falling to their lowest in more than four months, as demand for the natural fiber remains lackluster.

* The cotton contract for December CTc1 fell 1.78 cents, or 2.2%, to 79.44 cents per lb, its lowest since June 27, by 1:17 p.m. ET (1717 GMT). It traded in a range of 79.33 and 81.38 cents a lb.

* Most of the pressure is from producers trying to sell their remaining bales and speculators trimming their long positions, said Valentin Olah, cotton risk management consultant at StoneX Group.

* "The market is focused on the immediate demand situation, which is lackluster and weak."

* Nearly half of the U.S. crop had been harvested in the week ended Oct. 29, while speculators more than halved their net long position in ICE cotton futures in the week to Oct. 24. US/COT CFTC/

* The dollar index .DXY gained 0.3%, making cotton more expensive for overseas buyers. USD/

* Cotton futures on China's Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange CCFc1 have also fallen nearly 15% from a Sept. 4 peak, and Indian futures MCOTc1 have also dropped 6% in the same period.

* "Tomorrow's U.S. export report seems likely to show relatively strong U.S. sales, or at least relatively strong with respect to our small expected production," Louis Rose of Tennessee-based Rose Commodity Group wrote in a note.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales data is due on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

* Elsewhere, Chicago wheat futures rose, with a recent decline in prices expected to boost demand, although strong exports from Russia continued to keep a lid on the market. GRA/

Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar


Source: Reuters

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