NEW YORK, July 9: Cotton futures finished with slight losses on Friday on light speculative sales as most of the trade sat back to mull the approach of Hurricane Dennis and wait for a government report next week, analysts said.

The New York Board of Trade’s December cotton contract fell 0.41 cent to end at 55.47 cents a lb, moving from 54.60 to 55.80 cents. The rest retreated 0.30 to 0.65 cent.

Keith Brown, president of commodity firm Keith Brown and Co. in Moultrie, Georgia, said dealings were “brutally quiet” for most of the session.

He said the trade is wondering if Dennis, packing centre winds of 150 mph (240 kph), would be beneficial for cotton growers in the US Delta states like Mississippi and Louisiana.

Some dealers feel Dennis will bring needed rain to parched farms in the area, but others feel excessive downpours would flood cotton farms.

Futures lost ground at the start and then pared those losses on trade and speculative buying, the dealers said.

Brown and other analysts said they were also waiting to see the results from the US Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply/demand report which is due out next Tuesday.

In other news, the market took note of news from the USDA’s weekly export sales data which showed that US cotton sales hit 347,600 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), compared with trade belief it would range from 150,000 to 250,000 RBs.

US cotton shipments of previously booked orders stood at 254,100 RBs, against trade belief of 250,000 to 400,000 RBs.

Longer-term, a report by cotton market analyst O.A. Cleveland said the December contract’s ability to challenge 60 cents will depend to a great degree on China, which may need to import 13 to 15 million (480-lb) bales of cotton in 2005/06.

Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp. put support in the December contract at 54.95 and 54.05 cents, with resistance at 55.60 and 56.10 cents.

Floor dealers said estimated volume came to 5,500 lots, down from Thursday’s count of 7,189 lots. Open interest rose 121 lots to 92,722 lots as of July 7.—Reuters