KARACHI, Nov 23: Active trading was witnessed on the cotton market on Wednesday as price ideas of both sellers and buyers found a meeting ground in line with their parity levels.

About 15,000 bales, including some big deals totalling 3,000 bales, were reported at a uniform rate of Rs2,425, and spinners and mills continued to make covering purchases at the current levels.

The ginners, however, remained reluctant sellers amid predictions of further increase in prices, but the spinners on the other hand are inclined to make bigger commitments at the prevailing rates, brokers said.

The notable feature is that lint prices were contained within the competitive export levels as orderly buying by the spinners checked any speculative rise based on reports of a short crop, they added.

Mills have limited their daily intake according to their export parity levels and mostly stayed on the sidelines when the ginners raised their asking prices or held back their unsold stocks.

But on the other hand, growers are trying to get higher prices after holding on to their unsold stocks of phutti, but the ginners refused to go beyond their lint parity rates, some others said.

“The rebound staged by New York cotton futures after several lean sessions reflects both the advent of foreign demand and speculative support followed by reports that China is expected to resume its buying from foreign markets,” they said.

New York cotton futures rose by 1.36 and 1.30 cents per lb at 49.90 and 53.31 cents for both the ruling December and forward March contracts, respectively.

There was, however, no change in the official spot rates, which were held unchanged at the overnight level of Rs2,375.

The following are some of the notable deals reported mostly in the Punjab variety in the ready section by some of the leading brokers:

PUNJAB VARIETY: 3,000 bales, Bahawalpur, 1,000 bales, each Sadiqabad, Multan, Jahania, Rahimyar Khan, and 400 bales, Chichawatni and Sahiwal at Rs2,425; 400 bales, Muridwala at Rs2,410; 1,000 bales, Gojra at Rs2,400 to Rs2,425; and 800 bales, Chistian at Rs2,400 to Rs2,410.