Feb 2 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures climbed on Friday, heading for their longest weekly winning streak since 2022, supported over the last month by a string of robust U.S. exports and bullish bets from speculators.
* Cotton contracts for March CTc1 rose 0.5 cent to 86.99 cents per lb by 12:19 p.m. ET (1719 GMT) after hitting their highest since Oct. 10 at 87.32 cents an lb earlier.
* Prices were set to finish their fourth straight week higher, marking the most consecutive weekly increases in two years.
* "Demand has been pretty strong, even with the Chinese economy in bad shape, and that's surprised people and caused them to cover up short positions," said Jack Scoville, vice president at Chicago-based Price Futures Group.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) weekly sales report on Thursday showed net sales for 2023/2024 of 349,400 running bales, up 69% from last week. EXP/COT
* Shipments climbed to another marketing-year high of 396,700 bales, having stayed above 200,000 bales in five of the previous six reports.
* Speculators switched to a net long position of 21,976 contracts in ICE U.S. cotton futures in the week of Jan. 23, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said last Friday. CFTC/
* The natural fibre held on to its gains despite a 0.9% higher dollar index, which makes U.S. cotton more expensive for overseas buyers. USD/
* "The dollar is stronger because interest rates are not likely to be cut as soon as people are hoping for because the economic news was good here for the U.S., and this supports better demand ideas domestically," Scoville added.
* Traders looked to the USDA's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report for February due next week. USDA/EST
* In the grains market, Chicago soybean and corn futures edged higher, while wheat extended gains on chatter about renewed Chinese demand. GRA/
Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid
