| |
DTN Closing Cotton 10/21 13:44
Cotton Climbs a "Rung" Higher
Cotton edges higher as traders watch exports, funds, rates, market clues.
Keith Brown
DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst
The cotton market appears to be slowly inching up and away from its early
October lows. Of late, speculative managed-traders have halted their net-long
liquidations, while others are thinking that the 2026 Harvest low could emerge
as early as "now". Of course, the market will also assess Thursday's exports
and Friday's CFTC update for additional clues.
At 8:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, the USDA will issue its weekly exports-sales
report. Highlights from last week's data saw combined seasonal net sales of
154,074 bales, which was below the 221,128 bales of last week. Cumulative sales
for 2026/2027 have reached 45% of USDA's forecast versus a five-year average of
54% for this point in the marketing year.
Then on Friday at 3:30 p.m. EDT, the CFTC will update its Commitment of
Traders report (COT) numbers. Last week, the managed-money funds net bought
1,862 positions increasing their net-long carry to 65,699 contracts.
The EIA report Wednesday was bullish for crude and gasoline, which both saw
larger than expected draws last week, but was somewhat bearish for diesel, with
distillate stocks showing an increase versus an expected decline. Refinery
activity was close to expectations. U.S. crude, gasoline, and distillate stocks
are all running below year ago and five-year average levels. U.S. crude oil
output is down sharply this month.
Next week the Federal Reserve will meet to discuss and perhaps act on U.S.
interest rates. Recent inflationary data has been running high, and the central
bank may feel compelled to increase rates. That potential decision will be
announced today week.
For Wednesday, December closed at 81.83 cents, up 95 points, March 2027
finished at 85.20 cents, plus 102 points, and July 2027 settled at 87.26 cents,
94 points higher. Wednesday's estimated volume was 57,445 contracts.
Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com
(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.
No other Daily email offers as much useful Ag information as DTN Snapshot – Sign up Free today!
|
|
