By Keith Brown DTN Cotton Correspondent 

The market was lower Monday in something of a holiday type trade (Veteran’s Day), although volume was a stout 69,100 contracts. The market received bullish information Friday from USDA’s monthly crop report, in which the government slashed domestic and foreign production, as well as lowering both domestic and foreign carryouts.

Still, the market could only close moderately higher, as the U.S.-China trade fuss still overhangs the trade. Then this weekend, the news of escalating violence in Hong Kong psychologically broke the market Monday, causing it to give up its Friday gains.

Tuesday, USDA will issue its latest harvest progress information at 4 p.m. By now the 2019 Crop should be over 60%, or greater, in its harvesting pace.

Over the weekend, President Trump suggesting the imminent lifting of tariffs was not going to happen. He indicated the talks were “going nicely,” but that he was not going to roll back any current tariffs. To further quote the President, he said, “We have to make the right deal for the farmers, manufacturers, for everybody. And if we don’t make that right deal, we’re not going to make a deal.”

Chinese economic data from the weekend showed continued weakness in Chinese economic growth. China’s producer price index (PPI) fell the most this October since July 2016. Additionally, Chinese car sales fell for the 16th consecutive month. Both data sets suggest China’s domestic growth continues to slow down as a result of the U.S.-Chinese trade war.

December cotton settled at 64.29 cents, down 0.43 cent, March ended at 66.08 cents, down 0.49 cent, December 2020 ended at 68.67 cents, up 0.08 cent.