NEW YORK, Nov 22: NY cotton futures tumbled to 6-week lows at Friday’s close as mostly speculator and local selling nudged prices down into stop-loss sell orders, dealers said.

Active March dropped 2.26 cents, or 3.0 percent, to finish at 73.09 cents a lb, its lowest closing price since Oct. 9. Front-month December lost 2.64 cents to 67.60, its cheapest since Oct 6.

Traders said tensions over an intensifying trade spat between China and the United States turned investors in cotton skittish this week, causing funds to sell heavily.

But most of the pressure stemmed from small speculators and local brokers who were trying to coax funds to liquidate long positions, dealers said.

The entire focus of this market has been on this China textile cap, and traders are a little nervous, said Alan Feild of iamhedged.com.

All locals and specs are trying to do is to goad funds, who are long, into selling because the market hasn’t been making new highs, he added.—Reuters