Cotton Showing Slight Thursday Gains

Group 1 - Cotton futures increased by 5 to 7 points on Thursday's midday trading [1] - Crude oil futures rose by $0.50 per barrel, reaching $56.44 [1] - The US dollar index increased by $0.143, now at $98.145 [1] Group 2 - Export Sales data indicated that 135,886 RB of cotton were sold during the week of November 27, marking a 4-week low [1] - Cotton shipments reached a 3-week high at 122,094 RB [1] Group 3 - Speculative traders in cotton futures and options reduced their net short position by 2,212 contracts, bringing the total net short to 59,787 contracts as of December 2 [2] Group 4 - An online auction from The Seam reported sales of 14,934 bales at an average price of 60.84 cents per pound [3] - The Cotlook A Index decreased by 90 points to 73.00 cents on December 17 [3] - ICE certified cotton stocks remained unchanged at 12,396 bales as of December 17 [3] - The Adjusted World Price was updated to 50.39 cents per pound last week [3] Group 5 - March 26 cotton futures are priced at 63.5 cents, up 7 points [3] - May 26 cotton futures are priced at 64.6 cents, up 7 points [3] - July 26 cotton futures are priced at 65.64 cents, up 6 points [3]