Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market finished limit up Wednesday amid end-of-the-month squaring. Traders were preparing for the final leg of the 2022 harvest (October-November-December). Also, there are sketchy reports that northern India's cotton quality has diminished due to extended monsoon. Local markets were receiving nearly a third lower in supplies than the normal quantity. For the month, March cotton ended nearly 12.97 cents up.    

Thursday morning, USDA will issue its weekly export-sales report. Last week's numbers were bearish as net sales were net negative, with China a massive canceller of 109,000 bales.    

Spot December cotton remains in its delivery period. Last week saw a total of five notices tendered, but there were none for Wednesday. Delivery runs through Dec. 7, the expiration date for the contract.    

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed Wednesday that smaller interest rate increases are likely ahead and could start in December. However, he cautioned that monetary policy is likely to stay restrictive for some time until real signs of progress emerge on inflation. His speech was given at the Brookings Institution in Washington.    

For Wednesday, December closed at 85.60 cents, up 4.00 cents, March 2023 finished at 84.61 cents, up 4.00 cents and July 2023 settled at 83.22 cents, 3.87 cents higher; estimated volume was 28,894 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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