Cotton futures posted losses of 40 to 70 points in the front months on Friday, with March down 211 points this week. Crude oil futures were up 21 per barrel on the day at $63.50. The US dollar index as down $0.141 to $97.650.
Spec traders were busy adding 6,717 contracts to their net short position in the week of 2/3, taking the total to 71,746 contracts net short in cotton futures and options.
Export Sales data has total export commitments at 7.8 million RB as of January 29, now 12% below last year. Commitments are now 68% of the USDA forecast and behind the 86% average.
The Thursday online auction from The Seam showed sales averaging 54 cents/lb on 592 bales. The Cotlook A Index was back up 5 points on February 5 at 73.20 cents. ICE certified cotton stocks were up 27,344 on 2/5 with the certified stocks level at 74,997 bales. The Adjusted World Price was updated to 49.78 cents/lb on Thursday down another 42 points.
Mar 26 Cotton closed at 61.06, down 70 points,
May 26 Cotton closed at 63.04, down 46 points,
Jul 26 Cotton closed at 64.83, down 43 points
