In the process of modest trading, dealers said that prices maintained firmness on the cotton market on Saturday. Some leading mills were on the sidelines owing to less buying interest as per market sources. The prices of seed cotton in Sindh were at Rs 2100-2700 and in Punjab at Rs 2500-3100. The official spot rate remained unmoved at Rs 5500

Experts attributed the fall in activity to larger stock with the leading buyers as they had bought major stock than their needs, so some exporters selling their cotton stock to needy mills.

Commenting on the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decision in which it has reduced interest rate by 100 basis points from 8.0 percent to 7.0 percent for next two months, cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that traders hailed the decision and hoping business activities to revive in the coming days.

The following deals reported to have changed hands: 500 bales of cotton from Kot Ghulam Mohammad at Rs 4500, 600 bales from Shahdadpur at the same rate, same figure from Tando Adam at Rs 4700, 600 bales from Qaboola at Rs 5450-5700 and 200 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 5700.

In the ready session, around 2400 bales changed hands between Rs 4500-5300, dealers said.

On global front, ICE cotton futures dropped for the fifth straight session, ending their worst week in more than six months as a stronger dollar continued to prompt speculator liquidation, though traders noted prices remained locked in a tight trading range.