Cotton futures trade weaker at Rs 19,580 per bale

NEW YORK: Cotton futures fell marginally to Rs 19,580 per bale on October 29 as participants increased short positions as seen from open interest. Cotton futures in the domestic market fell Rs 300 to settle at Rs 19,610 yesterday on the MCX.
The sharp reduction in ICE Cotton futures took a toll on domestic cotton during the last session.
The recent fall in Indian cotton prices against the rally in world cotton makes Indian cotton attractive as it trades at Rs 8-9 discount from Cotlook A prices of 78.35 cents on Tuesday.
The government has raised the support price of medium staple cotton by Rs 260 per 100 kg to Rs 5,515, and that of long staple by Rs 275 to Rs 5,825 per 100 kg.
The International Cotton Advisory Committee in its October report has scaled down its global output estimate of 2020-21 (August-July) to 24.6 million tons from 25.1 million tons projected in the previous month.
In the futures market, cotton for November delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 19,740 and an intraday low of Rs 19,530 per bale on the MCX. So far in the current series, the commodity has touched a low of Rs 16,060 and a high of Rs 20,150.
Cotton futures for October delivery fell Rs 30, or 0.15 percent, to Rs 19,580 per bale at 15:04 hours IST on a business turnover of 1,089 lots. The same for December contract slipped Rs 130, or 0.65 percent at Rs 19,780 per bale with a business volume of 37 lots.
The value of November and December’s contracts traded so far is Rs 9.46 crore and Rs 0.44 crore respectively.
Kotak Securities expect Cotton to trade in a narrow range today amid expected weakness in ICE Cotton and crop loss concerns in home country.
At 09:41 (GMT), US Cotton futures were marginally up 0.07 percent quoting at 70.22/pound on Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).