ICE cotton futures slipped on Wednesday as the dollar scaled a near one-month peak, while lack of clarity on the US-China trade negotiations kept investors on edge.
Cotton contracts for December fell 0.35 cent, or 0.54%, to 64.39 cents per lb by 12:35 p.m. EST (1735 GMT), trading within a range of 64.32 to 64.85 cents per lb.
“Mostly it's the dollar, which is firm today. The weather is moving out and the harvest should pick up. Overall, there is not much going on in the market that can push prices higher," said Jack Scoville, vice president at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
The dollar index gained 0.1% to hit a near one-month high against a basket of major currencies.
A stronger greenback makes commodities priced in dollars, such as cotton, expensive for holders of other currencies.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday dangled the prospect of completing an initial trade deal with China “soon" but offered no new details on negotiations in a campaign-style speech touting his administration's economic record. Lack of details from Trump's speech on a US-China trade deal did create some selling interest, Scoville added. Total futures market volume fell by 35,942 to 31,424 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 6,608 to 233,153 contracts in the previous session. Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of Nov. 12 totalled 51,114 480-lb bales, up from 47,789 in the previous session.
