By Keith Brown, DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst 

The cotton market finished mixed Monday as, technically, it was oversold, and fundamentally the anticipated heavy rains for West Texas in large part did not materialize. Last week saw the market collapse on forecasts calling for sweeping rains to come across the Lubbock area this week, but several reporting stations are saying rains were light, but winds were high. Some locales indicated wind speeds exceeding 50 mph.

Traders will continue to monitor the daily weather forecasts. July cotton was off as recent sales have been weak at best. Even Monday’s decline in the U.S. dollar did not help it stay aloft.

Monday afternoon USDA will issue its weekly crop progress data. Thus far, the 2021 crop is going off without a hitch. Last week’s plantings were right in line with the five-year average of 26% complete. No doubt some of the rain will aid in the fieldwork as the crop goes in the ground.

Cotton traders will see housing starts Tuesday and existing home sales on Friday. Both of these reports are important to the demand side of cotton, from building materials to finished goods. The fact that lumber might have topped could encourage an uptick in new home construction.

Monday, July cotton closed at 82.32 cents, down 0.11 cent, December settled 81.71 cents, up 0.49 cent and March 2020 ended at 81.35 cents, plus 0.45 cent; estimated volume was 30,954 contracts.