KARACHI, Nov 12: The cotton market on Friday passed through another listless session as buyers and sellers adhered to the sidelines most of the time holding to their respective positions.

In the absence of any significant deal, it was pretty difficult to name the selling price of lint, although some of the brokers said status quo was maintained by both the ginners and spinners on the price front.

But reports coming from the southern Punjab cotton belt indicate that stray lots did change hands direct between the ginners and spinners between Rs1,900 and Rs1,950, details of the tally was, however, not immediately reported to the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA), the brokers said.

Opinions about the future direction of the market are divided. Some say prices could ease further from the current levels on selling expected to be triggered under the weight of higher phutti arrivals into the ginneries during the post-Eid holidays, while some other say much will depend on the holding capacity of the growers. However, the general perception is that TCP's strong presence in the market will not allow any major change in the current price outlook as the ginners have a second buyer in the line that pays a competitive rate for fine lint, the brokers said.

They said TCP's recent announcement that it would raise its purchase quota to 6,000 bales from the current 3,000 bales could well prove a price stabilizing factor in coming weeks.

According to official figures released by the TCP on Nov 12, the corporation had so far purchased 0.684m bales - 0.253m bales from Sindh and 0.445m bales from Punjab ginners, respectively.

Bulk of the procurement in Sindh was made from the Nawabshah division at 0.106m bales, while in Punjab, D.G. Khan remained at the top with 0.100m bales. Reports from the New York Cotton Exchange were divergent. While the ruling December contract posted a rise of 0.23 cents at 43.88 cents per lb, the forward March fell fractionally by 0.4 cents at 42.98.

There was, however, no change in the local official spot rates, which were quoted unchanged at Rs1,1920 per maund. Ready offtake was light totalling about 3,500 bales, mostly from the southern Punjab cotton belt, delivery after Eid holidays. Some lots from the central Sindh cotton belt also changed hands but details were not available.