NEW YORK, Nov 22: NY cotton futures settled flat to higher on Wednesday on spread and rollover activity ahead of the US Thanksgiving holiday as players moved out of spot December before first notice day on Monday.

Dec/March switches remained the major play while outright buying briefly emerged at the highs, traders said. Prices peaked on speculative buying before selling by Delta-based producers capped the rise.

All the action and volume is once again in the switches, said Mike Stevens of Swiss Financial Services in Mandeville, Louisiana.

The New York cotton market will be closed Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving. Trading resumes on Monday.

Spot December cotton finished flat at 33.82 cents a lb, after trading 33.50-34.50 cents, its highest since Friday.

Active March climbed 0.28 cent to reach 36.13 cents, dealing from 35.65-36.60 cents. The rest rose 0.10 to 0.75 cent.

First notice day in front December futures on Nov. 26 had funds moving out of those positions into the March contract, sources said.

Volume dropped sharply, however, after the spread between spot December and March flared above 230 points late in the session.

Open interest in December fell 4,355 lots by of Nov. 20 to stand at 5,712 lots while interest in March rose 1,976 lots to 28,110 lots, according NYBOT statistics.

Market watchers said traders will refocus on fundamentals once liquidation in December is done.

Abundant cotton supply and soft domestic mill demand, exacerbated by the slide into recession following the Sept. 11 attacks, sank cotton to near 30-year lows last month.

The cotton “A” index, an indicator of global cotton demand, rose 0.65 to 39.65 overnight, which offered support to futures on Wednesday, said brokers Flanagan Trading Corp.

USDA weekly export sales figures will be released Friday, a day later than usual, due to the US holiday.

Stevens said trade selling pressure in active March hovered at 36.45 cents a lb. March found support at 36.05 cents on Wednesday.

Meanwhile in December futures, Flanagan pegged resistance at 34.00 cents and support down at 33.40 and then 32.80 cents.—Reuters