REUTERS: US cotton gains on softer dollar but holds tight range
REUTERS: US cotton gains on softer dollar but holds tight range

REUTERS: US cotton gains on softer dollar but holds tight range

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Jan 30 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures gained on Tuesday, recovering losses from earlier in the session with help from a slightly weaker dollar, but struggled to break out of a narrow range.

* Cotton contracts for March CTc1 rose 0.23 cents, or 0.3%, to 84.49 cents per lb at 12:10 p.m. ET (1710 GMT) after hitting their lowest since Jan. 22 at 83.65 cents a lb earlier.

* The dollar eased 0.2%, making U.S. cotton more expensive for overseas buyers. USD/

* "Overall, we're still range bound between roughly the 80 to 90 cents price level. ... We have a little bit more upside inclination, but not necessarily enough momentum to break out of that price channel," said Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management consultant at StoneX Group.

* Prices touched a more than three-month peak on Friday and have risen for the last three weeks.

* Speculators switched to a net long position on 21,976 contracts in ICE U.S. cotton futures in the week of Jan. 23, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. CFTC/

* "It does give some indication that they could continue to build a larger position, and if so, that would indicate that we have a little bit more upside potential here," Thomen added.

* In the grains market, Chicago soybean futures edged to another two-year low while corn eased to a three-year low as improving harvest expectations in South America and doubts over Chinese demand kept the focus on ample global supplies. GRA/

Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid


Source: Reuters

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