KARACHI, April 27: Cotton market finished the weekend session on a cheerless note as both the spinners and the ginners awaited the Supreme Court ruling on the petitions against the referendum before making fresh commitments.
Stray lots, however, did change hands as a leading spinner group was out to grab the floating stock of fine variety from the upper Sindh ginneries offered by the ginners at a rate much below being offered by the TCP.
Some of the ginners holding stray lots seem to be in no mood to await any positive change in the future price outlook hastened to oblige buyers around Rs1,750.
Floor brokers said indications are that the normal activity on the market is expected to be resumed after the referendum and May Day holiday as owing to delivery problems buyers may not like to make fresh commitments.
“But by that time the price outlook could change significantly if spinners followed the world market trends,” they said, referring to fresh steep decline in the New York cotton futures.
New York cotton futures fell 1.45 and 1.48 cents per lb at 33.55 and 35.27 cents per lb for both the maturing May and the distant July settlements, respectively.
Most leading spinners, who have already imported a substantial number of bales (0.900m bales) since the beginning of the current season, may opt for fresh supplies if world prices fall further. Another 0.150m bales are said to be in the pipeline.
Spinners had entered the world cotton market with a big shopping list after New York cotton future fell below the 30-cent per lb level late last year.
There is a loud whispering in the market that world prices are heading to repeat their previous performance and could hit new lows as the demand from the users is not picking up, some dealers said.
Local ginners, who are still holding an unsold stock of about 1.2m bales, are worried over the developing situation amid fears about further decline in prices.
Official spot rates did not show any change for the fourth session in a row because of low daily volume on the ready counter.
Ready offtake was light as till late in the evening 1,400 bales of K-68 Sawgin were sold between Rs1,720 to Rs1,780 per maund.