NEW YORK, April 28: Cotton futures closed mostly higher on Friday as early speculative fund sales were offset by trade and consumer buying although the overall tone in fibre contracts remained soft going into next week, brokers said.

The New York Board of Trade’s open-outcry July cotton contract rose 0.01 cent to settle at 50 cents per lb, dealing from 49.30 to 50.35 cents.

The new-crop December contract shed 0.06 to 54.76 cents. One contract aside, the rest were flat to up 0.13 cent.

Intercontinental Exchange’s NYBOT electronic platform for cotton showed the July contract up 0.04 cent at 50.03 cents, moving from 49.31 to 50.35 cents.

“The trade seems to be trying to support it today,” said Frank Weathersby, an analyst for brokers Affinity Trading in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

He said interest from prospective cotton consumers was particularly keen once benchmark July slipped below 50 cents and they managed to nudge the contract back up going into the close of trade.

Weathersby said the question would be whether cotton can sustain a recovery given its poor technical outlook. “I’m not convinced they can get it up,” said Weathersby.

The July contract may need to probe the region around 47 cents and consolidate to establish a bottom in the market, dealers and analysts said. “The jury’s out whether we’ve seen the bottom,” Weathersby said.

A report by Sharon Johnson, cotton expert for First Capitol Group in Atlanta, Georgia, said the weakness in cotton “signals an exhaustion type break where any stragglers left on the long side finally capitulate and run for cover or, in this instance, the short side.”

Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp. sees support in the July contract at 49.25 cents, with resistance at 50.05 cents.Floor dealers said estimated final volume stood at 13,000 lots, from the prior total volume of 30,496 contracts.—Reuters