KARACHI, Nov 25: The fresh fall in cotton prices was halted on Thursday as local market recovered in sympathy with New York cotton futures, which staged smart rally on strong speculative support at the lower levels.

While the New York cotton futures recovered 6.30 cents and 4.80 cents at 119.39 and 116.59 for both the ruling December and the distant March contracts respectively, bulk of the business on the local market was finalised at Rs8,000 on the lower side and at 8,500 on the higher side for the fine lots from the Punjab cotton belt.

Floor brokers said there was no panic among the ginners who held on to their positions amid hopes that the worst may have been over.

But on the other hand spinners were a bit reluctant and could not precisely decide how to react to the sudden change in the market trend and waited further developments, they said.

The next couple of sessions may not be normal as the fallout of global markets would continue to influence the local prices lines and both the sellers and the buyers are expected to play safe, they said.

A steep rise of about 15 cents per lb in the New York cotton futures during the last couple of sessions has upset the global markets and the current rebound, market sources said, is fraught with high risk and both the spinners and the ginners play safe.

Official spot rates were again firmly held unchanged at Rs8,300 per maund but most of the deals were done well above them.

The following are some of the notable deals reported by the Karachi Brokers’ Forum on Thursday:

SINDH TYPE: 1,600 bales, Shahdadpur and 1,000 bales, Mirpurkhas at Rs8,000 to 8,200, 1,600 bales, Nawabshah at 8,000 to 8,300, 1,000 bales, Khairpur at 8,200, 3,000 bales, upper Sindh at 8,200 to 8,500.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 400 bales, each Tonsa Sharif, Shadan Lund, Junepur and 1,000 bales, Liaquatpur at Rs8,500, 2,000 bales, Alipur at 8,400 to 8,500, 1,600 bales, Rajanpur, and 1,200 bales, Fazalpur at 8,300 to 8,500, 2,000 bales Jalalpur and 1,400 bales, Ahmedpur East at 8,200 to 8,500,800 bales, Mian Channu at 8,000 to 8,200 and 200 bales, Dhandot at 8,000.