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Cotton slightly mixed

NEW YORK: NYCE cotton futures were mixed in choppy midday trade ahead of the first notice day for the May contract Wednesday, floor sources said.

Prices sank on trade selling after July scaled a peak of 86.30 cents a lb early on local and options buying, floor sources said.

"The trade is not willing to buy as we move to higher levels, said Carl Anderson, a cotton marketing specialist with Texas A & M University.

He put resistance for July at 86.60 cents.

"We got up above the stops, ran out of juice and sank back. Now we are running stops on the downside and it will probably come back to unchanged," one trader said.

At 1140 EDT, May cotton was off 0.23 cent at 84.00 cents, traded from 84.90 and 83.50 cents. July was 0.04 cent lower at 85.35 cents. Deferreds were narrowly firmer.-Reuter