August 18, 2002	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Saani 8, 1423

NEW YORK, Aug 17: NY cotton futures settled mixed on Friday in light sideways business, with most operators opting to sit out dealings to wait for the funds’ next move in the market.

December cotton slipped 0.14 cent to end at 45.64 cents a lb, moving from 45.45-46.40 cents. March lost 0.26 cent to 47.43 cents. Back months ranged from 0.11 cent firmer to 0.20 cent softer.

It’s been slow, boring and (we’re just) waiting to see what the funds are going to do, said Alan Feild of brokers STA Trading Services in Memphis, Tennessee.

Cotton popped higher at the onset of business, with trade fixation buying and a lack of follow-through fund pressure keeping early price levels steady, brokers said.

Mike Stevens of Swiss Financial Services in Mandeville, Louisiana, said light spec selling and possibly some local liquidation took the market down even though trade scale-down buying propped up futures.

Trading is extremely choppy, intermittently bouncing 15-25 points up easily on only the lightest short-covering, said Stevens, adding light managed money pressure kept some contracts under the gun.

Analysts said the need for the mills to fix some cargoes of cotton should keep cotton supported, whilst sellers are closer to the 48.25 cents area, basis December.

The 44 to 50 cents trading range remains seemingly fixed in concrete.

However, in a very light volume week, the market generally traded in a very narrow three-cents (45.50-48.50) range all week, said cotton market analyst O.A. Cleveland in a weekly commentary.

Analysts said the cotton market may stay around these levels for the meantime until the US cotton harvest hits full bore in the fall or more news emerges which could impact world fiber production and demand.

Technicians said they believe December cotton will see resistance at 47 and 46 cents while support would be at 45.35 and 44.90 cents.

Estimated final volume touched 4,800 lots, against the previous count of 6,578 lots.

Open interest in the cotton market rose 195 lots to 73,408 lots as of Aug. 15.—Reuters