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Cotton futures lower

NEW YORK: NYCE cotton futures settled lower on trade and late-session speculative selling in May, on Tuesday floor sources said.

They noted heavy rolling of May contracts into July. Speculative selling in July near the close drove that contract lower, they said.

"It was all liquidation in May," said Sharon Johnson, an analyst with Frank Schneider and Co Inc. "There were a few die-hards that finally had to get out."

Most-active July settled 0.70 cent lower at 84.53 cents a lb, having ranged from 85.50 and 84.45 cents. May settled 1.24 lower at 82.69.

New crop December traded at 82.20 cents a lb before settling at 81.85, off 0.07. March closed off 0.10 at 82.30, after hitting a lifetime high of 82.70.-Reuter