Cotton snaps 6-week winning streak on weaker export data, lower oil

U.S. cotton fell more than 1% and snapped a six-week winning streak on Friday, weighed down by a weaker export sales report and retreat in oil prices.

* Cotton contract for May (CTc2) slipped 1.25 cents, or about 1.3%, to 93.21 cents per lb by 11:11 a.m. ET (1611 GMT) and was down 1.3% for the week.

* The USDA in it weekly export sales report showed exports of 255,500 running bales, down 8% from the previous week and 4% from the prior 4-week average.

* The report also showed net sales of 130,500 running bales for 2023/2024 were down 19% from the previous week and 48% from the prior 4-week average.

* Export sales report was not very optimistic as China being one of the main buyers this week didn't participate post their holiday and retreating crude oil price is additionally pressurizing the cotton market, said Valentin Olah, risk management consultant at StoneX Group.

* The spreads are still telling a bullish story for the May and July contract with the on-call imbalance backing it, but we still do not see very strong signs of a demand recovery, he added.

* Oil prices fell and were on track for a weekly decline after the U.S. central bank indicated that interest rate cuts could be delayed by at least two more months. Lower oil prices make cotton-substitute polyester less expensive.

* Elsewhere, Ivory Coast exported 236,510 tonnes of cotton from January to November 2023, down about 39.4% from the same period last year, provisional port data showed.

* In the grains market, Chicago corn and soybean futures edged higher, with bargain-buying lifting prices after both markets dropped to their lowest levels in three years, although plentiful supplies are likely to limit gains.