Cotton ends higher as dollar drops

BEIJING, Jan 31 (Reuters): ICE cotton futures inched higher on Wednesday, as investors eyed developments from trade talks between the United States (US) and China and as a weaker dollar lent further support to the natural fiber.

The most active cotton contract on ICE Futures US - the March contract - settled up 0.21 cent, or 0.28 per cent, at 74.36 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 73.76 and 74.55 cents a lb.

"People are awaiting for any results on the trade talks, positive or negative," said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Moultrie, Georgia, adding a drop in the dollar helped spur cotton higher.

The dollar index was down 0.5 per cent after the Reserve said it would be patient in lifting borrowing costs further this year.

A weaker greenback makes commodities priced in dollars, such as cotton, less expensive for holders of other currencies.

The United States and China opened a pivotal round of high-level talks on Wednesday aimed at digging out from their months-long trade war.

In 2018, cotton marked its first yearly decline in four years, largely because of the trade tussle between the United States and China, the top exporter and biggest consumer of the natural fiber, respectively.

The US Department of Agriculture said it would resume publishing reports on Thursday of weekly export sales, whose announcements were suspended during the partial government shutdown that lasted more than a month.