The forecasted rainfall with the storm system pressured the cotton market another 91 to 93 points lower on Wednesday for the 3rd loss of the week. July futures closed with a net weekly loss of 225 points through Wednesday. December futures are still 168 points cheaper than old crop and were sitting at a weekly drop of 171 at the close.
The Fed announced no change to the Fed Funds Rate for this FOMC meeting, as was expected. The initial shock was that they expect more interest rate increases before the year is up. On the news, the Dollar Index shot higher, +295 points the minute of the release and +455 in the first 10 mins, to close off the lows but still 402 points lower for the day. Prior to the announcement the dollar was at its weakest since mid-May.
The Cotlook A Index was another 65 points lower to 93.25 cents/lb for 6/13. The AWP for cotton is 69.38 cents, through Thursday. ICE Certified stocks for 6/13 were 17,918 bales.
Jul 23 Cotton closed at 81.79, down 93 points,
Dec 23 Cotton closed at 80.11, down 91 points,
Mar 24 Cotton closed at 80.18, down 93 points
Source: barchart.com