KARACHI, April 29: Cotton market on Tuesday maintained a firm trend as prices were quoted unchanged at the overnight levels amid thin trading.

Stray lots did change hands, but most of the deals were quality-based, dealers said, adding fine lots were traded as higher as Rs3,600 per maund, while inferior ones around Rs3,450, both from the Sindh and the southern Punjab cotton belts, floor brokers said.

They said retail short-covering by spinners and mills reflects that they are not inclined to re-enter the market in a big way to fuel a price flare-up at this stage amid fears that ginners will further raise their asking prices.

“There is a perception shared by all leading ginners who still hold on a good part of the unsold stock that prices could rise further during the next couple of weeks,” said a leading ginner.

He said leading groups of spinners and mills still need fine lots to produce higher counts of cotton yarn cloth as bulk of the imported stuff of about four million bales is said to be of an inferior quality.

The other positive supporting factor was the recent rebound staged by the New York cotton futures from the current lows above 70 cents per lb level and ginners hope an identical increase in the local rates in the coming sessions.

The New York cotton futures on Tuesday were quoted higher by 0.67 and 0.17 cents per lb at 69.13 and 71.61 cents for both the maturing May and the ruling July contracts, respectively.

The perception that spinners are inclined to pay more for the new crop lint around Rs3,700 per maund shows that the future price outlook appears to be a bit bullish, most spinners believe.

It was perhaps in this background that the overnight increase of Rs25 per maund was firmly consolidated in official deals as official spot rates were held unchanged at Rs3,375.

The following are some of the deals reported by the brokers: 200 bales, each Buchari and Nawabshah at Rs3,450; 400 bales, Kumb at Rs3,500 and 1,000 bales, Harappa at Rs3,600.