DTN Closing Cotton            05/20 13:30

   Cotton Market Turns Higher Again

   The cotton market twisted and turned from positive to negative to positive 
again during its midweek action.

Keith Brown
DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst

   The cotton market twisted and turned from positive to negative to positive 
again during its midweek action. Traders were likely impacted by a weaker U.S. 
dollar, Chicago grains and crude oil. Even so, ICE cotton futures seem to be 
balanced between friendly and unfriendly technical and fundamentals influences.

   Thursday at 8:30 a.m. EDT, USDA will release its weekly export sales. Last 
week's numbers revealed a mere 47,000 bales sold. It was a marketing-year-low 
amount.

   Option expiration for the July contract is Friday, June 12. Then Spot July 
delivery commences on June 24 and runs through July 9.

   On Friday at 3:30 p.m. EDT, the CFTC will update its Commitment of Traders 
data. Last week, the managed-money funds bought some 8,300 positions, lifting 
their net-long carry to 58,000-plus. The all-time bullish record, from 2018, 
stands at 108,788 contracts.

   Specific weather maps are now showing that most of the Texas rain of the 
last 24 hours fell mainly in the eastern half. Nonetheless, the entire state 
has a chance of rain or thunderstorms over the next 24 to 48 hours, but again, 
the heaviest amounts are expected in the eastern half.

   For Wednesday, July closed at 81.60 cents, down 73 points; December closed 
at 82.96 cents, minus 20; and March 2027 finished at 83.77 cents, 13 points 
lower. Wednesday's estimated volume was 52,977 contracts.

   Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com




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