Steadier Trend Amid Pre-Holiday Session

Steadier trend was again witnessed on cotton market on Thursday ahead of Independence Day holiday, dealers said. The official spot rate was stable to Rs 4,500, dealers said. Seed cotton prices in Sindh were higher by Rs 100 to Rs 2400 and Rs 2500 and in Punjab rates were at Rs 1800 and Rs 2550, they said. In the ready business, around 10,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 4550 and Rs 4780, they said.
Market sources said that mills willingly covered their immediate requirements. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that phutti arrivals slowed down due to stagnant flood-water in the field. Other experts said that after yuan’s devaluation, some leading buyers adopted wait-and-see attitude to observe the fresh developments.
Several businessmen and traders have started demanding of the government of weakening the currency to compete the international market, they added.
Reuters adds: ICE cotton surged on Wednesday, hitting its daily price limit after the US government unexpectedly slashed its forecast for US and global production and ending stocks in its monthly supply and demand report. At 12:39 pm (1639 GMT), the December contract which represents the 2015/16 harvest, was up 3.4 percent at 63.91 cents per lb. Before the release of the report, cotton had been trading in negative territory. The contract rose by the daily limit of 3 cents a lb above the prior session’s settlement, jumping 4.9 percent to a high of 64.82 cents.
The following deals reported: 1000 bales of cotton from Sanghar at Rs 4550-4600, 1600 bales from Shahdadpur at the same rate, 1200 bales from Tando Adam at Rs 4600, same figure from Mirpurkhas, 800 bales from Hyderabad, 400 bales from Kotri, 200 bales from Golarchi, same figure from Matli all finalised at the same rates, 200 bales from Bajgar at Rs 4700, 400 bales from Sahiwal at Rs 4700-4750, 200 bales from Pakpattan at Rs 4725, 800 bales from Burewala at Rs 4750, 400 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 4775, 200 bales from Gojra at the same rate and 600 bales from Khanewal at Rs 4780, dealers said.