Renewed commercial buying allowed cotton contracts to close higher for the day. The December contract closed 0.34 higher while the March was up 0.33.

The December contract held minor technical price support at 84.40, rallying back above 85.00 after pushing to a low of 84.18 early Friday. The contract remains in a minor (short-term) uptrend, indicating a possible earlier than normal seasonal low.

The five-year seasonal index shows the Dec contract tends to post its low in late August. Commercial support was noted over the course of FridayΆs trade, as indicated by the strengthening inverse in the new-crop forward curve (series of futures spreads from the December contract through the July 2014 contract). The longer-term commercial outlook remains bullish, implying that the market remains more concerned over possible reduced supply levels rather than expected cuts in demand.