ICE Cotton Futures Near Six Month Highs
May 1, 2009 Speculative buying spilled over from rallying commodities to boost ICE Futures U.S. cotton near six-month highs Wednesday.
Most-active July cotton settled 59 points higher at 53.34 cents a pound and the nearby May contract settled up 79 points at 52.84 cents.
Cotton moved side-to-side in early dealings and picked up steam midday. The weaker U.S. dollar sent commodities such as crude and Chicago Board of Trade soy higher, spilling over into cotton. July futures rose to 54.19, the contract’s highest point since Nov. 5. Futures gave back some gains but settled stronger on the day.
Barring a surprise outside factor, cotton will continue to work higher and pause in consolidation only to be bought on dips, said Mike Stevens, analyst at SFS Futures in Mandeville, La.
July cotton has near-term resistance at 56 cents, but could near the 60-cent level within the next three weeks, said Sterling Smith, vice president at FuturesOne in Chicago.
ICE daily cotton stocks increased by 742 500-pound bales Tuesday to total 204,095 bales with 13,613 bales awaiting review, according to exchange data.
ICE cotton open interest increased by 1,095 positions Tuesday to total 119,982, according to the exchange.
Volume was estimated 11,552 lots. In options, approximately 5,611 calls and 3,459 puts traded, according to exchange data.
Source: Dow Jones
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