NEW YORK: Cotton futures fell nearly 2 cents on Monday, registering their biggest intraday percentage loss in seven weeks as index funds shifted long positions forward from the front month, further dragged down by a stronger US dollar.

“We’re on the second day of the Rogers index fund roll, which normally brings selling pressure,” said Louis Rose, independent cotton trader and consultant with Risk Analytics in Memphis, Tennessee.

“We didn’t see much short covering today ... and this is no surprise, especially with the good harvest going on,” noted Rose.

The December cotton contract on ICE Futures fell 2.8 percent, the biggest intra-day percentage fall in nearly seven weeks. The US Department of Agriculture’s weekly crop progress report released on Monday after the market close showed 49 percent of US cotton crops were in good-to-excellent condition, up marginally from 48 percent a week ago.

The first-month December cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled down 1.96 cent, or 2.77 percent, their biggest intra-day percentage fall since Sept. 12, at 68.86 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 68.74 and 70.85 cents a lb.

The dollar index was up 0.02 percent. The Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index, which tracks 19 commodities, was down 1.55 percent.

Total futures market volume rose by 5,855 to 31,453 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 1,805 to 262,059 contracts in the previous session.

ICE cotton speculators cut net long position by 1,878 contracts to 78,299 in the week to Oct. 25, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed.—Reuters