NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures fell on Thursday as concerns about crop damage from Tropical Storm Eta abated, while rising coronavirus cases dimmed vaccine optimism and soured market sentiment ahead of a federal weekly export sales data.

The cotton contract for December fell 0.71 cent, or 1%, to 68.57 cents per lb at 12:34 p.m. EST (1734 GMT). It traded within a range of 68.50 and 69.42 cents a lb.

“Hurricane Eta, that was scheduled to come into south Georgia and south Alabama, turned hard-right and went across Florida, where there is no cotton,” said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Georgia.

Eta, which weakened into a tropical storm, will produce an additional 1 inch (2.5 cm) to 3 inches (7.6 cm) of rain across portions of the Florida Peninsula through Thursday, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Also “the euphoria from the Covid vaccine announcement (by Pfizer Inc) is starting to wear off a little bit,” Brown said, adding that a pause in the rally in the equities and the grains market is further weighing on the natural fibre.

Global stocks market and grains rallied on Monday on positive reports about Pfizer’s potential Covid-19 vaccine, but since then have eased on spiking infections and threats of a new round of economic shutdowns.

Cotton prices had crashed earlier this year due to the pandemic, which upended economies and marred demand.

Market participants were now awaiting the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) weekly export sales report due on Friday, delayed by a day because of the Veterans Day holiday on Wednesday.

Total futures market volume fell by 17,151 to 37,919 lots.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of Nov. 11 totalled 85,831 480-lb bales, up from 83,423 in the previous session.—Reuters