960416

Cotton futures fall

NEW YORK: NYCE cotton futures were trading lower at midday on mostly follow-through fund selling following Monday's weak close, market sources said.

"More and more funds are liquidating positions," one floor source said, noting that the speculators are about 35 percent long.

He said buying is likely to pick up around 82.50 cents a lb in July, about 2.00 cents a lb lower than the contract's current price.

But Merrill Lynch analyst Judith Ganes pegged support for the July contract at 84.00 cents a lb.

At 1134 EDT, May cotton was off 0.54 cent to 83.35 cents a lb, having ranged from 84.10 and 83.29 cents a lb. July was trading 0.75 cent weaker at 84.50 cents, while the deferreds were trading 0.05 cent firmer to 0.30 cent weaker.Reuter