Cotton Futures End Lower After USDA Boosts Production Estimate

Cotton futures reversed course to end lower Thursday, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture revised higher its estimates for U.S. production, surprising traders.

Cotton for December delivery ended down 0.5% at 68.29 cents a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange after rising as high as 69.48 cents a pound before the report.

The USDA placed U.S. production at 21.4 million bales versus the average trade estimate of 20.9 million bales, according to Rabobank, which it said "highlights the resilience of this year's crop against threatening weather, including numerous hurricanes and freeze events."

The report left ending stocks in the U.S. at their largest since 2009-10, a 122% increase year-over-year at 6.1 million bales.

In other markets, raw sugar for March was up 0.3% to end at 14.88 cents a pound, cocoa for March lost 0.1% to end at $2,185 a ton, arabica coffee rose 0.5% to end at $1.264 a pound and frozen concentrated orange juice for January closed up 0.1% at $1.6085 a pound.

Write to Julie Wernau at julie.wernau@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 09, 2017 17:56 ET (22:56 GMT)