Cotton Market Slides as Profit Taking Takes Hold

The ICE cotton market saw a decline on Monday due to profit taking and consolidation after a recent rally. The most active December contract settled at **.** cents, down *.** cent from the previous session.

This marks a reversal of the market's trend over the past seven sessions, where it had gained *** points. However, other active contracts also declined by ** to ** points during this period.

The limited downside seen in the preceding seven sessions was largely due to profit taking and consolidation rather than a confirmed trend reversal. Trading volume totaled **,*** contracts, down from **,*** contracts on Friday but still above last week's average of **,*** contracts.

Open Interest increased by *,*** contracts to ***,***, marking the *th consecutive daily increase. This is an important signal that fresh positions continued entering the market even as prices declined. The strengthening US Dollar also put pressure on US cotton export competitiveness, providing another reason for profit taking.