Enough noncommercial buying interest was seen in cotton to fight off spillover pressure from other key commodity sectors.

COMMENTS:

The cotton market remains in a sideways trend on its long-term monthly, intermediate-term weekly, and short-term daily charts. TuesdayΆs session saw the market close higher with futures spreads mixed, indicating most of the support came from noncommercial buying. This was made more interesting given the sharp sell-off seen in grains, particularly the soybean complex, and the strong rally of the U.S. dollar index.

WednesdayΆs session could see more of the same, with contracts continuing to consolidate just below recent highs. Traders will keep an eye on weekly crop condition numbers set for release Tuesday afternoon, a factor that could set the direction for WednesdayΆs trade.

GENERAL COMMENTS:

December cotton was up 0.22 while March gained 0.20. December corn finished 9 cents lower while November soybeans fell 60 1/4 cents and September Chicago wheat closed 3 1/4 cents higher. The U.S. dollar index was 0.440 higher at 96.089. August gold was $18.70 higher at $1,357.70 while September silver was $0.357 higher and September copper was $0.0350 lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 140 points lower at 17,809. August crude oil was $2.36 lower at $46.63. The August distillates (heating oil) contract was $.0674 lower while August RBOB gasoline was down $.0877 and August natural gas lost $0.199.