October 12, 2007	Friday	Ramazan 29, 1428

KARACHI, Oct 11: Cotton market on Thursday ruled steady as pent-up mill demand figured prominently at the prevailing prices despite delivery problems owing to forthcoming Eid holidays.

About 10,000 bales changed hands mostly on post-Eid delivery basis as spinners were not inclined to miss an attractive bait of lower rates that are incidentally in line with their export parity levels, floor brokers said.

A sharp quality price gap of Rs75 per maund seems to have put spinners in an advantageous position to balance their export commitments, they said, adding “most of the deals were done as low as Rs2,800 on the lower side and Rs2,875 on the higher side, the average rate being Rs2,850.”

But unlike previous trading sessions there were not many big deals as ginners were not inclined to unload their long positions at the current levels and mostly indulged in retail lots, they added.

Cotton analysts said the sharp rebound staged by the New York cotton futures overnight could change the world price outlook in the coming sessions and Pakistan may not be an exception.

That was perhaps why ginners indulged in calculated sales and did not opt to sell in bulk at the lower offering prices by the spinners and the mills, they said.

After having fallen below the resistance level of 60 cents per lb during the last week, the New York cotton futures rebounded to finish with gains of 1.23 and 1.25 cents per lb at 64.21 and 67.95 cents for both the ruling December and forward March contracts, respectively.

Ginners were anticipating an identical rise in local lint prices during the first session after Eid and held onto their bulk of unsold positions, they said.

Official spot rates on the other hand did not show any change and were firmly held at the last level of Rs2,825 per maund.

Mill ready off-take was on the higher side totalling about 10,000 bales, the following being some of the notable deals.

SINDH TYPE: 400 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs2,825, 400 bales, Tando Adam and 200 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,850.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 400 bales, each Sadiqabad, Kabirwala, Khanewal at Rs2,875, 1,200 bales, Nurpur Nauranga at Rs2,860, 400 bales, each Depalpur, Tahimyar Khan, Layyah, 200 bales, Lodhran and 1,400 bales, Jahania at Rs2,850, 400 bales, D.G. Khan at Rs2,835 to Rs2,850, 200 bales, Alipur at Rs2,840, 200 bales, Chishtian at Rs2,810 and 200 and 400 bales, Haroonabad and Burewala at Rs2,800.