Spot May reversed off new high. Steep selloff on Wall Street may have weighed on cotton sentiment. U.S. 2013-14 export commitments reached 90% of the updated USDA estimate and shipments stood at 58%.

Cotton futures reversed off a new intraday seasonal high for May to close lower in old-crop deliveries Thursday.

Spot May closed off 52 points to 91.68 cents, in the lower third of its 229-point range from up 155 points at 93.75 to down 74 points at 91.46 cents. It shot to the high about 10 minutes after release of the U.S. weekly export sales-shipments report and twice hit the low around 1 p.m. CDT.

July dipped 37 points to settle at 89.86 cents, six ticks off its session low, while December eked up six points to a new high close for the move at 79.94 cents.

Worries about the pace of Chinese growth and mounting tensions over UkraineΆs Crimean peninsula amid a steep selloff on Wall Street may have weighed on the cotton market.

Volume declined to an estimated 17,500 lots from 23,040 lots the previous session when spreads totaled 8,151 lots or 35%, EFS 88 lots and EFP 20 lots. Options volume totaled 3,812 calls and 4,113 puts.

Net U.S. all-cotton export sales for shipment this season fell to 68,300 running bales during the week ended March 6, nudging 2013-14 commitments to 9.37 million RB.

Commitments were 90% of USDAΆs updated export estimate, compared with 88% of final shipments at the corresponding point last season. Bookings trailed year-ago commitments by 1.78 million RB or by 16%. The USDA estimate is for exports to decline by 18%.

Net upland sales of 60,000 bales, down 36% from the prior four-week average, reflected gross sales of 130,800 bales and cancellations of 70,900 bales.

All-cotton shipments of 275,500 RB, down from a marketing year high of 376,900 RB the previous week, brought exports for the season to a rounded 6 million RB. Shipments are about 58% of the forecast, against about 57% of final shipments a year ago.

To achieve the USDA estimate, shipments need to average roughly 218,800 RB a week, compared with an average of about 321,300 RB the last four weeks. Sales averaging approximately 50,400 RB would match the export estimate.

Shipments typically have tended to decrease toward the end of the season, especially with stocks estimated below 3 million bales, USDA analysts have pointed out.

Net sales for shipment net season of 120,400 RB, up from the prior weekΆs 48,200 RB, boosted 2014-15 commitments to 940,100 RB. This narrowed the margin behind forward bookings a year ago to 97,600 RB.

Futures open interest expanded 2,153 lots Wednesday to 177,538, with MayΆs up 1,174 lots to 107,524, JulyΆs down 273 lots to 35,087 and DecemberΆs up 1,061 lots to 32,396. Certificated stocks grew 400 bales to 260,895, the largest since July.

World values as measured by the Cotlook A Index rose 50 points Thursday morning to 97.80 cents. The premium to WednesdayΆs May futures settlement narrowed five points to 5.60 cents.

An additional 10 delivery notices issued on the expired March contract for Thursday nudged the total up to 110 lots and reduced the open interest to zero.