NEW YORK, April 30: Cotton futures settled higher Friday on buying by small speculators as the trade waited for news that China had bought a large chunk of cotton from a leading US merchant, dealers said. The New York Board of Trade’s July contract went up a measly 0.03 cent to conclude at 57.05 cents a lb, dealing from 56.50 to 57.30 cents. It was an inside trading day as the range held within Thursday’s 55.50 to 57.45 cents band.

Spot May shed 0.40 to 58 cents. Except for one contract, the rest gained 0.10 to 0.57 cent. Cotton had staged a blistering rally after news that Dunavant Enterprises had taken the lion’s share of cotton deliveries and had decertified a large amount of cotton stocks.

Most analysts said the actions by Dunavant likely meant sales of up to 500,000 (480-lb) bales of cotton were bound for China.

On Thursday, the US Department of Agriculture weekly export sales report showed US sales at 227,000 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), sharply below trade belief it would range from 250,000 to 600,000 RBs.

USDA said sales to China reached only 39,500 RBs. Floor dealers said estimated volume stood at 8,000 lots, down from Thursday’s tally of 9,764 lots. Open interest rose 1,121 lots to 120,574 contracts as of April 28.—Reuters