* Fiber down 10 pct from 1-year high of 93.93 cts/lb
* Volumes heavy amid May/July spreading
* U.S. weekly export sales, shipments down
NEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) - Cotton futures declined on
Thursday, on technically-driven selling and weaker export data,
as expectations of a steep global surplus overpowered the
momentum of cotton's recent speculator-driven rally.
The July cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S., now the
most active, fell 0.74 cent, or 0.8 percent, to settle at 86.74
cents per pound.
The May spot contract closed down 0.71 cent, or 0.8
percent, at 84.66 cents a lb, after earlier approaching the
previous session's intraday high and failing to surpass
technical resistance, dealers said.
The May contract has fallen nearly 10 percent from a
one-year high of 93.93 cents a lb touched last month, as mill
buying began to slow and investors were seen taking profits
following cotton's first-quarter rally of 18-percent. Cotton has
fallen through key technical support levels in its steep decline
since mid-March.
"We've got technical vulnerability, and the (index fund)
roll pressures the market," said Ron Lawson, a partner at
commodity investment firm LOGIC Advisors, putting the next level
of technical support near in he 83- to 83-cent range in the July
contract.
The index fund roll out of the spot contract into
July and December contracts has been seen weighing
on prices and contributing to heavy trading volumes.
More than 30,000 lots were traded, compared with a 30-day
average of about 24,000 contracts, preliminary Thomson Reuters
data showed.
Weekly U.S. government export data showed that sales in the
week ended April 4 declined 1 percent from the prior week and
that shipments declined 25 percent from the previous week.
A statement from the China Cotton Association that the
government would continue to pay above global prices to domestic
cotton growers did not push prices higher, as dealers said they
anticipated a continuation of the stockpiling policy.
Beijing began growing its reserves in 2011, paying above
world prices to support farmers.
The world' top textile market is expected to hold more than
half of projected global inventories by the end of the crop year
through July, though those stocks are considered unavailable to
the global marketplace.
The USDA confirmed expectations of record global stocks in
its monthly crop report, which took momentum out of cotton's
rally on Wednesday and continued to lend pressure on Thursday.
[ID:nL2N0CX1LU}
"We're still having a hangover from the supply-demand
report," said Keith Brown, president of Keith Brown and Co. in
Moultrie, Georgia, noting the increased forecast for global
carryover.
Certified stocks climbed to 441,393 bales on Wednesday,
according to ICE data, surpassing last month's highs and now the
most since late June 2010. Another more than 37,000 bales
awaited review by the USDA.