By Keith Brown, DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst 

Despite the wicked swings of the Dow Jones, the cotton market remained positive for most of Tuesday’s session. Conventional wisdom is beginning to echo the sentiment that if cotton can remain bullish throughout such financial storms, then it can indeed trade higher. However, with the Fed’s announcement Wednesday, and the Russian/Ukrainian fuss still unresolved, traders are waiting to see what other shoe, if any, may drop.

With the Beijing Olympics commencing on Feb. 4, we note that the Chinese government is buying additional supplies of cotton to overcome the international stigma associated with Xinjiang cotton. At stake is China’s treatment of its Uyghur (Muslim) population. Much of the world has placed a ban on all cotton products coming out of that region, thus China is having to buy other growths from other countries.

Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Reserve will issue its latest change, if any, to its monetary policy. It is widely thought that the Fed will initiate a plan to increase interest rates, with the first hike coming in March. higher rates typically result in a stronger dollar, thus weaker exports.

Tuesday, March cotton settled at 120.92 cents, up 0.54 cent, July ended at 115.76 cents, up 0.54 cent and December finished at 98.84 cents, 0.48 cent higher; estimated volume was 27,581 contracts.