Cotton closed higher Thursday, though contracts were well off session highs.

Comments:

The cotton market posted a quiet rally, led once again by commercial buying in new-crop. Despite this support the December contract finished the day well off its session high of 58.49, a pattern that was seen in most agricultural markets. As for old-crop, light noncommercial buying tied to the sharp sell-off in the U.S. dollar index provided support. Weekly export sales were solid for the week ending Thursday, March 10, while shipments were down from recent weeks, not a surprise given the weaker inverse in the May-to-July futures spread seen last week.

General Comments:

May cotton closed 0.04 higher at 58.36 with new-crop December up 0.10 at 58.04. May corn closed 1/4 cent higher, May soybeans finished 3 1/4 cents higher, and May Chicago wheat closed 8 1/4 cents lower. The U.S. dollar index fell 1.1023 to 94.878. April gold rallied $29.90 to $1,259.70 while May silver was $0.721 higher and May copper was up $0.0570. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 172 points higher at 17,498. April crude oil was $1.73 higher at $40.19.