KARACHI, Dec 22: Cotton prices on Thursday eased further by Rs15 per maund as some of the weaker links among the ginners continued to liquidate their stocks but spinners made guarded covering purchases in an effort to keep sellers at their toes.

Some analysts attributed the fall in ready business to year-end considerations and pressure on money supply as ginners remained busy in adjusting their overdraft limits for the year ending Dec 31, 2005 in an apparent effort to get them renewed for the next year.

But some others claim a battle of nerves has taken an ugly turn as some of the contenders are trying to corner the others on the price front and force ginners to indulge in panic selling.

“Year-end considerations could take further toll in the form of low daily volume but ginners are well-aware of the developing situation and know how to play their cards”, they said.

The future market trend will be set by the official arrival figures of phutti for the fortnight ending Dec 31, as the data will give a fair idea of the total crop, they added.

Ready off-take, however, shrank to modest proportions as leading ginners held on to their unsold positions rather than selling at the lower levels as was reflected by light volume, brokers said.

In physical trading bulk of the business was again confined to the Punjab lint and most of the deals were reported between Rs2,350 and Rs2,400 per maund depending on the quality of lint, they said.

Official spot rates were, therefore, again revised down by Rs15 per maund in line with those at which ready business was being transacted.

New York cotton futures also suffered fresh decline of 0.37 and 0.62 cents at 52.85 and 53.85 cents per lb for both the ruling March and the distant May settlements respectively.

Ready off-take was comparatively low totalling about 8,000 bales, all from the Punjab ginneries as under: 1,000 bales each, Bahawalpur and Yazman at Rs2,400, 1,000 bales, Alipur at Rs2,390 to Rs2,400, 600 bales and 400 bales, Gojra and Jhang at Rs2,350 and 1,600 bales, some other stations at Rs2,400 to Rs2,415.