By Keith Brown DTN Cotton Correspondent 

The cotton market closed lower Tuesday as traders and hedgers prepped themselves for Thursday’s weekly sales and export report as well as Friday monthly supply-demand data and the jobs reports. We know sales were reduced post-Thanksgiving and Christmas when prior sales were stronger.

Therefore, if Thursday’s report follows suit, t sales for the last week of 2019 may not be that robust. Nonetheless, sales have been running above USDA’s seasonal projection as well as the five-year average. Thus, it may not be too surprising if in Friday’s supply-demand data, U.S. Exports are increased.

Also for Friday’s crop data, 2019 production may receive another “whack.” At its peak, the crop was touted to be 22.52 million bales in August, but in the most recent data — which was the December monthly report — production was down to 20.21 million bales.

Lastly, participants should eye the jobs data from the Labor Department. Last month non-farm jobs were way above all analysts’ expectations, with strong revisions to prior months. A fully employed economy would mean greater domestic demand for cotton products and textiles.

For Tuesday, March cotton settled at 69.83 cents, down 0.21 cent, July ended at 71.84 cents, unchanged on the day and December finished at 71.57 cents, up 0.02 cent. Estimated volume was 25,430 contracts.