December 14, 2001	Friday	Ramazan 28, 1422

NEW YORK, Dec 13: NYCE cotton futures ended lower on Wednesday when a lack of follow-through from yesterday’s advance spawned speculative and local selling in the market.

Key March cotton fell 1 cent to finish at 36.11 cents a lb, near the bottom of its 36.05-37.30 trading band. On Tuesday, it rose 0.77 cent to close at 37.11 cents.

May slid 0.98 to 37.50 cents. Except for two contracts, the rest declined 0.83-1.05 cents.

“There was no follow-through from yesterday’s advance,” said Jobe Moss of brokers and merchants MCM Inc. in Lubbock, Texas, adding the market players who bought the market on Tuesday “dumped it today.”

Cotton prices are still trying to find their footing, having fallen to near 30-year lows in October because of bumper supplies and soft demand. The market has since rallied from those lows, but any advance has been halting.

Cotton started slightly higher, as expected, but that modest rise was swiftly scuppered by speculative accounts when they saw no further upside to the market, brokers said.

“The locals and the specs sold it off when the market failed to make any headway higher,” one said.

Traders said the market should consolidate around its current levels although a pullback to 35 cents, basis March, may be needed before fibre futures mount another assault on higher ground.

Cotton brokers contacted by Reuters said upland cotton sales should range from 180,000 to 230,000 (480-lb) bales, down from new upland sales last week of 287,300 bales.

“I’m right at 200,000 (bales),” a broker in the US Southeast said, adding there seems no sign yet of a slowdown in the pace of sales of US cotton.

“Sales should still be pretty decent,” another broker in Tennessee said. “They’re still going good.”—Reuters