KARACHI, July 8: Cotton market on Tuesday stayed quiet as both spinners and ginners awaited reports from the cotton belt about the impact of last two days’ rain on the standing crop.

Buying and selling operations, therefore, remained at a standstill as some of the ginners holding ready stocks of the new crop in the lower Sindh cotton belt raised their asking prices for the nearby delivery, dealers said.

They said the cotton areas, which may have received the heaviest downpour in the central and upper Sindh may face some problems if the rain water is not drained out from the fields or absorbed by the soil as the crop gets yellowish, having negative impact on the yield at the flowering stage.

But if the rain water is absorbed well in time, it helps the growth of the new crop leading to a healthy and a good crop, they added.

“Ginners and spinners are awaiting fields reports and the impact of rain on the crop before resuming their selling and buying operations. The future price outlook will be largely guided by the last two days rain, which is reported to have covered the entire cotton belt”, they said.

However, initial reports reaching here from the lower Sindh cotton belt indicate that the rain is beneficial to the new crop as it has minimized the incident of pest attack at least for the near-term after having washed away those who were in breeding stage.

Floor brokers said ready prices are expected to re-open on the higher side during the post-rain sessions as ginners are expected to cash in on the suspended picking operations of phutti owing to wet fields.

“Whether or not spinners will fall in their trap will be seen during the next couple of sessions but one thing appears certain some of the leading spinners will oblige them after paying higher rates”, they said.

The current world cotton outlook is fast changing followed by reports of higher consumption figures coming out from the US textile industry and some other major consumers.

Already the New York cotton futures are stable above the 60 cent per lb level for the new crop contract and indications are that increasing consumer demand could push it further higher beyond the 15-year highs.

New York cotton futures on Monday were quoted higher by 0.90 and 0.45 cents at 59.30 and 60.57 cents per lb for both the maturing July and the distant October settlements respectively.

Local official spot rates on the other hand did not show any change in the absence of physical business on the ready counter.

Ready offtake remained slow as price ideas of the sellers and the buyers failed to find a meeting points, although negotiations for some lots from the lower Sindh ginneries for nearby shipments were said to be in an advance stage.