Cotton prices changed marginally opening the week, yesterday. The US cotton futures closed down 0.05 per cent on the day with the benchmark December contract on ICE Futures at US cents 66.15 per pound, paring losses after sinking near the key support level of US cents 65.

Cotton prices fell in line with tumbling grains markets as cotton competes with corn and soybeans for acreage in the US. Market speculators jumped to a big bearish bet and expectations have risen that US farmers will harvest a bumper crop in the world's top exporter. Late rains in the top cotton producing areas of Texas eased worries over the return of dry weather that has been plagued by drought since 2010. Official data showed that speculators trimmed a huge bearish bet in cotton futures and options in the week ended 19 August..

Elsewhere, in Pakistan the cotton market was stable on the first day of the week as mills continued buying to cover forward buying. The official spot rate recovered PakRs 50 from the previous week-end fall to PakRs 5,500 per maund. According to reports, persistent demand from mills helped sustain the rate at current levels. Meanwhile, exporters were on the sidelines due to high rates.

In India, prices were seen moving up on Monday, according to the Cotton Association of India, gaining INR100-600 per candy from last week end. While J-34, LRA-5166 and H-4/ MECH-1 cotton was dearer by INR100 a candy, V-797 and NHH-44 surged INR400 per candy. The monsoon rains have been trailing the long-period average by 18 per cent until mid-last week dry spells in parts of cotton-growing states of Gujarat and Maharashtra is likely affect production.

Courtesy: YnFx Daily Textiles Prices Service