NEW YORK, Dec 21: NY cotton futures finished on Thursday with fractional losses because of a sheer lack of interest and light local pressure, with most players already setting their sights on the long Christmas holiday weekend.

Key March cotton fell 0.54 cent to close at 35.91 cents a lb, moving between 35.57 and 36.20 cents. May shed 0.41 cent to settle at 37.48 cents. Back months lost 0.15-0.50 cent.

With the four-day holiday coming up, there’s no urgency for anybody to step up in this market, said Keith Brown, president of commodity trading firm Keith Brown and Co. in Moultrie, Georgia.

The cotton market will be shut from Dec. 24-25 for Christmas and will reopen for business on Dec. 26.

Cotton appeared stuck in a range while continuing to recover from falls to near 30-year lows in October.

Futures started on a weak note, with small speculators seemingly content to job the key March contract between its trading range, floor brokers said.

The market came off mainly due to a lack of buying more than anything else. Some of the locals were putting pressure on it, but trading has been light all-around especially with the holidays coming up, a floor trader explained.

Analysts said the market barely paid attention to the weekly USDA export sales data.

USDA said new upland cotton sales stood at 201,600 (480-lb) bales, near the bottom of trade expectations it would lie between 200,000 and 250,000 bales. Last week, new upland cotton sales hit 260,800 bales.

Shipments stood at 154,200 bales, some 20 per cent off from week-ago levels.

On the other hand, the Cotlook A Index used by the trade as an indicator of global cotton demand was again quoted unchanged at 43 cents.

Technically, brokers said they believe support in the March cotton contract would be at 35 and 34.70 cents while resistance would be at 37 and 38 cents.

Estimated final volume reached 4,800 lots from the previous 7,376 lots.—Reuters