Cotton futures fell in light volume on Monday, confined to a tight trading range after data released late Friday showed speculators had built up their largest net long position in 2-1/2 years, discouraging further buying.

“WeΆre going to see the market basically range trade,” said Michael Quinn, president and chief executive officer of Carolinas Cotton Growers Co-operative. “YouΆre going to have to see the market rally, and sustain a rally, for the specs to want to go longer.”

March cotton on ICE Futures US settled down 0.37 cent, or 0.6 percent, at 63.32 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 63.17 and 64.16 cents a lb.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of December 18 totalled 65,238 480-lb bales, unchanged from 65,238 in the previous session.

The dollar index was down 0.32 percent. The Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index, which tracks 19 commodities, was up 0.15 percent.

Speculators raised their net long position to 55,599 contracts in the week ended December 15, the highest level in 2-1/2 years, according to US government data released Friday after the market close.