DTN Closing Cotton            02/26 13:31

   Cotton Market Corrects Its Overbought Condition

   The cotton market corrected its slightly overbought condition today by 
closing somewhat lower. 

Keith Brown
DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst

   The cotton market corrected its slightly overbought condition today by 
closing somewhat lower. The trade had seen a string of positive closes as the 
end-of-the-month activities ramped prices higher. However, 
less-than-enthusiastic export sales and weaker outside markets contributed to 
its decline.

   Highlights from today's export sales release showed that today's data was 
less than that of the prior week. Nonetheless, some analysts deemed them "good 
enough." Net sales of U.S. cotton have been above 200,000 bales for seven 
straight weeks. Cumulative sales have reached 78% of USDA's seasonal forecast 
versus a five-year average of 90% for this point in the marketing year.

   Friday at 3:30 p.m. EST, the CFTC will issue its weekly Commitment of 
Traders report. At last count, the managed-money funds had net sold some 3,900 
contracts, swelling their current bearish position to 79,508 contracts. For 
context, their record high negative carry, from last October, stands at 81,343 
contracts.

   Next Monday ushers in not only a new trading month, but the first month of 
the historical three-month spring planting window. With that, USDA will issue 
updated supply-demand tables via the WASDE on March 10, and the highly 
anticipated 2026 planting intentions on March 31.

   For Thursday, July closed at 67.07 cents, down 73 points; December 2026 
closed at 69.45 cents, minus 47 points; and March 2027 finished at 70.35 cents, 
48 points lower. Thursday's estimated volume was 52,483 contracts.

   Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com




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