KARACHI, Sept 8: Cotton market on Wednesday showed firm trend as most of the deals in the ready section were done at the previous levels, allaying fears of fresh decline owing to fall in mill demand.

Analysts said that the report that the textile sector would need to import about 4m bales of lint to make up the local crop shortfall because of floods was chief reason behind the market's firm stance.

The other contributory aiding factor was fresh sharp rise in New York cotton futures, which settled well above the 91.18 cent per lb level, sending bullish signals around the world markets, they said.

The ruling October closed around 91.32 cents per lb.

The most disturbing feature was that the new crop December contract, which is generally quoted at a discount as compared to the ruling one, also rose to 91.18 cents, signaling that lint prices could rise further and it may not be an easy supply year for the global textile producers, they added.

Floor brokers said unlike the previous sessions ginners were not that keen to clear their unsold stocks ahead of the Eid holidays even at the current lower level owing to the heating up of the world markets and market talk of an imminent price flare-up in post-Eid holiday trading weeks.

As a result, leading ginners held on to their bulk of the unsold stock and sold only stray lots anticipating an increase in prices after the long Eid holiday weekend, they said.

There was no change in the official spot rates, which were firmly held at the last close of Rs6,400 per maund.

The following are some of the deals reported by the brokers on Wednesday:

SINDH TYPE : 600 bales, Tando Adam at Rs6,450 to 6,500, 400 and 200 bales each, Shahdadpur , Shahpur Chakar and Mirpurkhas at 6,450, 600 bales, Hyderabad at 6,400 to 6,450, 400 bales, and Sultanabad at 6,350.

PUNJAB TYPE : 200 bales, Arifwala at Rs6,325, 200 bales each, Mongi Bungalow Gojra, Jhang, at 6,350, 1,000, 200 each Vehari, Burewala, Sahiwal, Samandari and Pir Mahal at 6,400 and 400 bales, Khanewal at 6,500.