CHICAGO: ICE cotton futures fell for a second straight session on Thursday, as a firmer U.S. dollar overshadowed a weekly federal report showing higher export sales.

The cotton contract for December fell 0.65 cent, or 0.7%, to 92.72 cents per lb by 11:25 a.m. ET (1525 GMT). It traded within a range of 92.52 to 93.97 cents per lb.

“The exports report was pretty good, especially with more sales to China, but a stronger dollar index is not helping,” said Jim Nunn, owner of Tennessee-based cotton brokerage Nunn Cotton.

The dollar rose 0.5% against key rivals, helped by upbeat U.S. retail sales data. A stronger dollar makes greenback-denominated cotton costlier for buyers holding other currencies.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly export sales report showed exports of 237,500 running bales (RB) of cotton, up 53% from the previous week, with increases primarily for China, Pakistan and Vietnam.

“U.S. harvest pressure is imminent and, in the absence of significant tropical activity, should move lower over the near- to medium-term,” Louis Rose, director of research and analytics at Tennessee-based Rose Commodity Group, said in a note.

“The December contract should experience resistance near 95 - 96 cents and then near 97 cents and support near 89 - 90 cents and 85 - 86 cents over the near-to-medium term.”

Total futures market volume fell by 1,835 to 10,952 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 194 to 273,386 contracts in the previous session.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of Sept. 13 totalled 64,455 480-lb bales, unchanged from 64,455 in the previous session.