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Cotton mixed at midday

NEW YORK: New York cotton futures were narrowly mixed at midday in quiet, rangebound trade, market sources said.

One trader said the session's activity was mainly limited to light speculative trading ahead of the USDA's crop production report due Thursday.

Traders expect the report will be bearish, with a predicted record cotton production of 21.5 to 22.5 million bales.

At 1157 EDT, most-active December was off 0.01 cent a lb at 72.00 cents, with trades posted between 72.25 and 71.67. October was 0.15 lower at 73.60, while the back months were 0.10 weaker to 0.11 firmer.

"We'll probably never hit a 100.00 cotton again in the next year or so," the trader said, adding he doesn't expect current prices to drop much lower since expectations for a large crop have generally been factored into the market.-Reuter