KARACHI, Aug 22: Cotton market on Tuesday showed firm trend as ginners raised their asking prices followed by reports of damage to standing crop in the lower and central Sindh cotton belts owing to rain.

Ginners said arrivals of phutti in the areas where picking operations were resumed still below the daily normal figure as growers were asking higher prices.

As a result, some of the deals in Sindh type were finalised well above Rs2,500 as compared to official spot rate of Rs2,450.

“The cotton trade is progressively inching up to an expensive level, followed by reports of damage to crop and market talk of lower production against the target,” brokers said.

They said spinners and mills may be at the receiving end during the next couple of weeks as the crop situation is not clear, adding lint may be a bit expensive having negative impact on their export parity level.

But market sources said spinners and mills appeared to be in no mood to entertain bullish price ideas at this stage and were claimed to be steadily monitoring the crop situation through their own survey networks.

They may have resorted to panic buying if they had bearish crop ideas leading to an imminent price flare-up, they said, adding “their silence on the supply front may be intriguing but reflects a bid of confidence”.

The official spot rates were again held unchanged at the overnight level of Rs2,450 but in the ready section some of the deals were done well above them.

New York cotton futures on the other hand were marked down by 0.29 and 0.44 cents at 52.11 and 54.08 cents per lb for both the ruling October and the forward December settlements respectively.

The following some of the deals gone through late on Tuesday evening: 200 bales, Hala Rs2,500, 200 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs2,525 and 200 bales, Bahawalnagar at Rs2,585.