January 20, 2006	Friday	Zilhaj 19, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 19: Cotton market on Thursday consolidated overnight gains as spinners and mills kept to the sidelines, signalling that they were not inclined to go beyond their export parity levels. Unlike the overnight mill panic caused by lower than market expectations arrival fortnightly figures of phutti as buyers kept to the sidelines rather than chasing prices further higher, brokers said.

“The talk of the price level of Rs2,600 per maund has no relevance to the ground realities as was reflected by the absence of mills from the market,” said a leading broker. “The current battle of wits would be further intensified during the coming sessions to outwit each other.”

Indications were that mills were not inclined to go beyond the price level of Rs2,500 per maund for the fine lots for the near-term, brokers said adding the current steep decline in New York cotton futures and any further decline could make import a bit competitive.

Physical business, therefore, shrank to a modest proportion as sellers and buyers adhered to their rigid positions in the backdrop of their perceptions about the future supply and demand outlook, they added.

But some cotton analysts fear spinners may not be able to hold the current price line indefinitely as lower supplies could work against their strategy.

Spinners said new year’s textile orders from foreign buyers were still unclear as leading among them were eyeing the future price outlook before placing fresh orders.

The post-fortnightly arrival figure status quo is expected to be maintained during the next couple of sessions also as the estimated crop together with carryover stocks are claimed to be enough to meet their annual consumption demand, some others said.

It was in this background that prices remained unchanged at the overnight level of Rs2,475, although some of the deals in the ready section were done at around Rs2,500.

New York cotton futures on the other hand suffered sharp fall of 1.43 and 1.36 cents at 54.56 and 55.79 cents per lb for both the ruling March and the distant May settlements, respectively.

Ready offtake was modest totalling 3,000 bales as under: 1,600 bales, Dera Rehmat Kossa and 1,000 bales, Rajanpur at Rs2,500.