ICE cotton futures climbed to an over one-week high on Wednesday, with trading activity slowing ahead of Thursday's U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
* Cotton contracts for March (CTH6) rose 0.57 cent, or 0.9%, at 64.8 cents per lb at 11:11 a.m. ET (1611 GMT). The contract hit its highest level since November 18 earlier today.
* "It's a very thin volume because of the holiday tomorrow and into Friday we're going to trade partial day," said Keith Brown, principal at cotton broker Keith Brown and Co in Georgia.
* The market will be closed on Thursday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday and will operate on a shortened schedule on Friday.
* "Overall, the trend of cotton is down. It's trying to go sideways... range would be from the low of 63 cents to maybe up to 65 cents," Brown added.
* In the grains market, Chicago soybean futures were almost unchanged as traders adjusted positions before the Thanksgiving holiday while remaining cautious about Chinese purchases of U.S. beans under a bilateral trade truce.
* On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is set to release its export sales report for week ended October 16. The data was delayed due to a 43-day U.S. government shutdown, the longest in the country's history, which ended on November 12.
* Earlier this week, research firm BMI said it expects cotton futures prices to hold steady, maintaining its average annual forecasts at 67 cents per pound for 2025 and 70 cents for 2026.
* Looking ahead, the company expects a tighter market balance in 2026, supported by mixed supply prospects amid stable consumption.