NEW YORK, June 18: Cotton futures closed higher Friday as more switch dealings were seen from players getting out of July before the contract goes into delivery at the end of next week, analysts said.

The New York Board of Trade’s July contract increased 0.74 cent to end at 47.38 cents a lb, ranging from 46.80 to 47.50 cents. New-crop December surged 0.71 to 51.34 cents, dealing from 50.75 to 51.60 cents. The rest went up 0.35 to 1.00 cent.

Open interest in July fell 2,754 lots to 20,695 contracts as of June 16 while interest in the December contract went up 2,382 to 61,299 lots. The July contract goes into first notice for deliveries at the close of trade on June 24.—Reuters