Cotton prices pushed higher on Friday with steady flow of buying orders. But no pick up seen in the trading activity as ginners held stocks anticipating higher prices in the coming days. Deal was reported to be conditional.

The Karachi cotton Association raised its spot rates by Rs50, to Rs6,700 per maund on Fri¬day.

Nevertheless, trading was marked by a single big deal of 5,801 bales which was quo¬ted at a high price of Rs7,200 per maund (around 37 kilograms).

A similar deal of 3,434 bal¬es was quoted in previous tra¬ding session at a seasonal high price of Rs7,300 per ma¬u¬nd.

The improvement in cotton yarn price was encouraging spinners to replenish their cotton stocks, but faced difficulty in getting quality cotton which was running in short supply.

Major deals that changed hands on the re¬ady counter were: 400 ba¬les from Shahdadpur at Rs5,700, 5,801 bales from Ghotki at Rs7,200 (conditional), 1,400 bales from Mi¬¬a¬¬n¬wali at Rs6,100 to Rs7,100, 1,400 bales from Shu¬j¬abad at Rs6,700 to Rs7,000, 600 bales from Ahm¬-edpur at Rs6,975 and 3,434 bales from Muridwala at Rs7,300 (conditional).

The limited stocks of aro¬und 900,000 bales held by ginners are a cause of worry for spinners who have to wait for about six to seven months before next crop’s arrival.