KARACHI, Feb 11: Cotton market on Wednesday showed firm trend as spinners and mills remained active buyers at the prevailing prices to grab the floating stock of fine lots.

However, there was no immediate negative reaction in sympathy with the New York cotton futures, which suffered limit price-fall followed by reports of a record fall in world cotton consumption of 8.5 per cent after about 80 years, analysts said.

They said the fact that 6,000 bales from some southern Punjab ginneries were sold at the season’s highest rate of Rs3,500 per maund, indicating that the local prices were expected to remain supply-based.

But some others said if the imports become cheaper, local prices could show sympathetic decline as a good portion of the demand will shift to import sector.

The New York cotton futures on Wednesday fell by limit-fall of 3.00 and 2.66 cents per lb at 46.98 and 47.95 for both the maturing March and the distant May contracts respectively.

Floor brokers said the next couple of sessions could well prove crucial as far as price outlook was concerned as the falling consumption could push prices further lower.

They said the latest data of phutti arrivals for the fortnight ending Feb 15 was expected to set the future price trend depending on the size of the shortfall.

Official spot rates were, therefore, firmly held at the last close of Rs3,400 per maund but most of the deals were done well above them.

The following were some of the deals reported in the ready section on Wednesday evening:

SINDH TYPE: 2,000 bales, Shahdadpur at Rs3,275 and Rs3,300, 400 bales, Pano Aqil at Rs3,050, 600 bales, Rohri at Rs3,275 and 400 bales, Dharki at Rs3,475.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 6,200 bales, from different ginneries of Rahimyar Khan at Rs3,500, 1,000 bales each Khanpur and Liaquatpur at Rs3,400, 800 bales, Khanewal at Rs3,450, 600 bales, Rajanpur at Rs3,275, 400 bales, D.G. Khan at Rs3,350 and 400 bales, Hasilpur at Rs3,250.