Spot May led way down. Cotton stands established in Rio Grande Valley. Widespread rain fell in parts of Southeast. Storms roamed Delta areas. Cotton plants thrived at Yuma. Sierra snowpack reported best in five years.
Cotton futures tumbled from a six-session high to a new low for the move on massive volume Monday, retreating after hitting a proverbial brick wall in spot May on early follow-through gains from Friday.
May led the way down, shedding 186 points to close at 75.47 cents, just off the low of its wide 273-point range from up 84 points at 78.07 to down 189 points at 75.44 cents. It printed the lowest intraday price since Feb. 22 and closed at the lowest finish since then.
July closed down 147 points to 77.12 cents, a couple of ticks off the low of its 215-point range from 79.25 to 77.10 cents. December dropped 61 points to close at 73.48 cents, trading within a 110-point range from 74.50 to 73.40 cents.
May corn and December corn closed up 0.9%, while May soybeans lost 0.8% and November soybeans dropped 0.4%. May Chicago wheat settled up 0.3% and May Kansas City wheat finished down 0.3%.
Cotton volume soared to an estimated 60,763 lots from 43,322 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 18,354 lots or 42% and EFP 141 lots. Options volume dipped to 9,122 lots (4,985 calls and 4,137 puts) from 9,552 lots (4,836 and 4,716 puts).
On the crop scene, cotton stands had established and some were at seven true leaves in the Texas Rio Grande Valley during the week ended Thursday, a review from USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service said Friday.
Rainfall brought beneficial moisture to southern Texas at midweek, but some low-lying fields were under water. Planting had begun in eastern Texas where a line of thunderstorms brought pea to baseball sized hail, high winds, tornado warmings and rain to isolated areas.
Thunderstorms deposited hail and half an inch to 4 inches of beneficial moisture in the West Texas Plains, mainly in areas north and east of Lubbock. Coverage elsewhere was spotty.
In the Southeast, widespread showers left 1 to 3 inches of accumulated moisture throughout Alabama, North Georgia and the western Carolinas, significantly reducing moderate to extreme drought in the heavier rainfall areas. Much of South Georgia remained dry and the coastal Carolinas and eastern Virginia missed significant rain.
Rainfall measured less than an inch in most of the North Delta, but soil moisture improved slightly in areas that did get rain, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Northeastern Arkansas remained abnormally dry with six-month rainfall totals 30% to 50% below average.
Severe, fast-moving storms brought up to 2 inches of rain in the South Delta as areas of moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions contracted in Louisiana and Mississippi.
In the Desert Southwest, cotton plants were thriving around Yuma and planting began in Central Arizona. Pre-planting irrigations continued at Safford.
Planting was active in Kern County in the San Joaquin Valley. The Sierra Nevada Mountain range has the best snowpack in five years. The snow-water equivalent of 46 inches is 164% of the April 1 average, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
Futures open interest gained 2,531 lots Friday to 279,902, with MayΆs down 2,235 lots to 133,921, JulyΆs up 1,817 lots to 60,008 and DecemberΆs up 2,624 lots to 76,012. Cert stocks grew 360 bales to 323,149.
