KARACHI, April 22: The cotton prices on Friday eased further as ginners continued to clear the backlog of odd lots at the lower prices and found willing buyers.

Over the last couple of session, prices had fallen by Rs1,500 per maund to Rs10,500 from Rs12,000 and dealers said in the ready section some of the deals were done below Rs10,000 at Rs9,400 per maund.

But on the other hand the New York cotton futures, which were also under pressure and had fallen sharply lower on speculative selling staged a recovery and were quoted higher by 3.50 and 0.45 cents at 186.67 and 167.51 cents per lb for both the ruling May and the forward July contracts respectively.

Market sources said some of the spinners and mills have signed forward deals with leading importers in various countries around 184.00 cents per lb for the nearby shipments and below 170.00 cents for the distant forward shipments.

But the recent rebound staged by the New York cotton futures worried local textile sector which still needed sizable supplies to see the current year through, they added.

Most of the deals were of retail nature as ginners had already sold bulk of their stock at the higher prices earlier in the season and now were clearing the backlog, some others said.

The following are some of the deals reported by the Karachi Brokers Forum on Friday:

SINDH TYPE: 200 bales, Mirpurkhas each at Rs10,000, Rs9,850, Rs9,500 and Rs9,400 respectively, 200 bales, Saleh Pat, at Rs10,500, 200 bales each Mirpur Mathelo and Dharki at Rs10,500.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 200 bales, each Rahimyar Khan and Faqirwali at Rs10,000.