Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market traded up and down, and all around, but then it finished mixed. Interestingly was the fact that traders pretty much ignored the strong Dow Jones and the falling U.S. dollar as far as any directional influence.    

Monday afternoon, USDA will issue its weekly crop progress numbers. It has been pretty much clear weather for harvesting across much of the Belt. Last week the U.S. harvest pace was 29% gathered versus a five-year average of 25% complete.    

Weather-wise, the six- to 10-day forecast has above-normal temperatures for Texas and slightly above normal for the Delta and the Southeast. For precipitation, the outlook shows above normal for Texas and near normal for the Delta and the Southeast.    

Looking ahead, traders will see housing starts on Wednesday, followed by the weekly export-sales on Thursday. This week's cotton business will reflect the time when much of China was essentially closed for its Golden Week celebrations.    

For Monday, December closed at 83.09 cents, down 0.06 cent, March 2023 finished at 81.99 cents, unchanged, and July 2023 settled at 79.99 cents, 0.14 cent higher; estimated volume was 25,122 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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