DTN Closing Cotton            12/18 13:31

   Cotton Has Little to Celebrate

   The cotton market has little to celebrate during the holidays as its trend 
remains firmly bearish, demand is sluggish and sentiment is negative.

Keith Brown
DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst

   The cotton market has little to celebrate during the holidays as its trend 
remains firmly bearish, demand is sluggish and sentiment is negative.

   USDA issued another weekly export sales report today, covering the Nov. 27 
time-period. It showed net sales for the current season were 135,900 bales, 
with Vietnam the main buyer. For next year, sales were a mere 4,500 bales, 
while weekly shipments were 122,100 bales.

   Today's long-awaited CPI Report (consumer inflation index), the first since 
the U.S. government's shutdown ended, showed that the headline annual inflation 
rate was 2.7%. The 12-month rate for core CPI, which excludes food and energy, 
was 2.6%. In response, the U.S. dollar was lower today after the aforementioned 
inflation data showed its lower-than-expected rise.

   Crude oil was somewhat higher today. Traders are closely watching for the 
possibility of further U.S. sanctions against Russia and by the current 
blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers by the U.S. Navy.

   The CFTC will issue a catch-up trader's status report Friday at 3:30 p.m. 
EST. That report will cover the period relating to Dec. 9. Currently, the 
managed-money funds reside at 59,787 contracts net short versus their record 
high count of 81,000-plus contracts.

   For Thursday, March 2026 went out at 63.51 cents, plus 8 points; July was 
65.66 cents, up 8 points; and December 2026 closed at 67.15 cents, 4 points 
lower. Thursday's estimated volume was 22,454 contracts.

   Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com




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