June 15, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 10, 1429

NEW YORK, June 14:Cotton futures settled higher Friday on all-around buying as strength from other commodity markets and dry weather in parts of the US cotton belt boosted fiber contracts, brokers said.

Keith Brown, president of commodity firm Keith Brown and Co. in Moultrie, Georgia, said cotton futures may march higher next week based on the strength of follow-through buying seen in the market.

It’s following the outside markets, he said, adding a friendly backdrop for cotton may be derived from the dry conditions in Georgia and Texas, where half of all US cotton has been planted this year.

The now benchmark December cotton contract shot up 2.50 cents to finish at 79.45 cents per lb, ranging from 76.24 to 79.95 cents. The spot July contract rose 1.99 cents to end at 71.63 cents.

Volume in the December contract stood at 37,098 lots while July volume was at 31,391 lots.

Hot, dry weather in Texas, the top growing state in the country, has been a source of concern for many players.

Forecasters DTN Meteorlogix said conditions in Texas will be mostly dry this weekend and into Monday, before getting some scattered showers on Tuesday. Analysts said agronomists in Texas have warned that dry weather is zapping soil moisture and providing problems for emerging cotton plants in the area.

They said another factor for the market’s gyrations would be the dollar. The analysts also were looking at the process of moving positions out of spot July and into new-crop December since first notice day for deliveries is due on June 24.

The market will turn its attention in two weeks to the annual planted acreage report from the US Agriculture Department to see if US cotton plantings will fall even further from current 25-year lows.

Traders said resistance in the December contract was at 80 cents, with support at 79 cents.

Volume traded Thursday in the cotton market hit 64,946 lots, exchange data showed. Open interest in the cotton market tumbled 16,683 lots at 251,752 lots as of June 12, it added.—Reuters