NEW YORK: Cotton fell more than 1% on Friday as rising global coronavirus cases and uncertainties around the US election stoked concerns about the demand of the natural fiber. The cotton contract for December was down 1.14 cent, or 1.6%, to 68.93 cents per lb at 12:57 p.m. EST (1757 GMT).

Concerns over demand with the re-emergence of the virus in Europe and worries about the impact of potential unrest tied to the US presidential election on retailers could affect Christmas sales, said Ed Jernigan, chief executive of Jernigan Global, a cotton textile supply chain manager.

Several major retail companies in the United States secured and boarded up their stores ahead of the election on fears of disturbances, looting and violence, which have not materialized.

There are concerns regarding the future of the US-China trade agreement as "if Biden is elected and does away with the tariffs, and obviously that takes away the trade agreement, which is very negative for cotton," Jernigan added.

Earlier this year, China had agreed to raise its purchases of US agricultural goods over two years as part of a Phase 1 trade deal with the United States. Total futures market volume rose by 1,973 to 36,610 lots. Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of Nov. 4 totaled 66,598 480-lb bales, up from 59,671 in the previous session.