U.S. weekly export sales fell to 161,000 running bales and shipments dropped to 114,900 RB. Tropical Storm Nate headed for northern Gulf Coast. Cash online sales slowed to 1,334 bales on The Seam.

Cotton futures clung to fractional gains in the early going Thursday after U.S. weekly export sales came in below expectations.

December hovered up seven points to 68.87 cents, near the low of its 64-point range from 69.45 to 68.81 cents on a contract volume of 2,770 lots. March inched up 10 points to 68.01 cents, trading within a 60-point range from 68.54 to 67.94 on a turnover of 1,195 lots.

Net upland export sales for shipment this season of 161,000 running bales during the week ended last Thursday fell 17% from the prior week but rose 8% from the four-week average, USDA reported. A modest weekly sales increase had been expected.

Sales went to 17 countries, led by Vietnam, Turkey, China, Indonesia, Peru and Bangladesh. Gross sales were 176,200 RB and cancellations were 13,200 RB, including commitment reductions for Venezuela, Japan and Thailand. Sales for next season of 28,600 RB were for Pakistan.

Upland shipments of 114,900 fell 13% from the prior week and 21% from the four-week average. Shipments went to 22 countries, headed by Vietnam, China, Mexico, Indonesia and South Korea.

Net Pima sales of 23,600 RB rose 51% from the prior week and 16% from the four-week average, while shipments of the extra-long staple cotton of 4,900 RB were down 17% but up 5%, respectively.

In outside markets, U.S. dollar index futures traded down 0.255 to 93.540, while Dow Jones futures edged up 11 points and S&P futures 1.75 points. Crude oil gained 16 cents to $50.14, Brent crude added 32 cents to $56.12 and December gold rose by $2.60 to $1,279.40. December corn was up 0.57%, November soybeans up 0.44%, December Kansas City wheat up 0.28% and December Kansas City wheat up 0.4%.

Earlier, Asian stocks closed higher, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 eking up 0.01% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gaining 0.73%. European shares traded mixed, up 0.27% in Britain’s FTSE 100, down 0.15% in Germany’s DAX and up 0.02% in France’s CAC 40.

On the weather scene, Tropical Depression 16 now is Tropical Storm Nate headed for the northern Gulf Coast this weekend. The National Hurricane Center said it was too early to specify the timing, location of magnitude of its impact. Residents along the coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle were advised to monitor progress of the system.

In ICE cotton futures Wednesday, December settled back above its nine-day moving average, which turned upward, for the first time since a one-day stand eight sessions back. An upside crossover of the daily stochastics offered a positive technical signal.

The inverted December-March spread widened 18 points to an 89-point settlement premium on December, trading between 66 and 109 points on a volume of 5,041 lots. March-May traded between 77 and 59 points carry and narrowed two points to close at a 71-point May premium on 794 lots. May-July narrowed four points to close at 54 points carry (July premium) on 357 lots.

In cash online trading, sales declined to 1,334 bales from 3,083 bales on The Seam. Prices averaged 66.65 cents, little changed from 66.64 cents, with premiums over loan repayment rates averaging 15.07 cents, up from 13.32 cents. Loan values averaged 51.58 cents, down from 53.32 cents. Offerings were 5,526 bales.

Grower-to-business sales fell to 70 bales and business-to-business sales slowed to 1,264 bales. Prices averaged 65.05 cents on the G2B sales and 66.74 cents on the G2B sales. Staples 34 or less made up 69 bales of the grower sales, while staples 35 or more accounted for 891 bales or 70.5% of the business sales.

The Cotlook A Index of world values dipped 10 points to 77.60 cents, narrowing the premium over the prior-day December futures settlement five points to 10.08 cents.

Five October delivery notices issued for Thursday brought the total for the period to 31. All the notices have been issued by Term Commodities and stopped by SG Americas Securities and INTL FCStone Securities.