KARACHI, Jan 30: Steady conditions prevailed on the cotton market on Friday but physical business remained light owing to closure of Punjab market because of the weekly holiday.

However, some big lot business was reported late on Thursday evening as some of the leading mills lifted fine lots between Rs3,300 to 3,400 per maund, dealers said.

But unlike the previous sessions spinners were not inclined to go beyond the Rs3,400 per maund level as most of the deals were done well below it in line with the quality premiums, they added.

Leading floor brokers said the future direction of the market will be largely guided by the arrival figures of phutti into the ginneries for the fortnight ending Jan 31, as they will give a fair idea about the local supplies.

However, they did not put the total above 10.4m bales, which is far below the annual consumption of the textile industry against it total needs of 15m plus bales, they said.

Already, some of the leading mills and spinners had imported from various sources about 1.1m bales between 42 and 50 cents per lb up to Jan 23, 2009 from Aug 31, 2008, and have made fresh forward buying for delivery before June 30, to make up the local shortfall, they added.

The current fall in the New York cotton futures to 50 cents per lb from 55 cents has made imports of lint a bit competitive and they are eyeing the level below 50 cents to make fresh commitments.

New York cotton futures suffered fresh fall of 1 and 0.54 cents per lb for both the ruling March and the distant May at 50.07 and 51.01 cents per lb, respectively.

Official spot rates, on the other hand, remained pegged at the last close of Rs3,400 per maund for the fourth session in a row.

The following are some of the notable deals reported by the brokers late on Thursday evening:

SINDH TYPE: 2,000 bales, upper Sindh at Rs3,350 to 3,425, 1,000 bales, Khairpur at Rs3,250 to 3,275, 600 bales, Shahdadpur at 3,275.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 4,000 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs3,300 to 3,400, 1,000 bales, Mian Channu at 3,400, 400 bales, Chichawatni at 3,300, and 200 bales, Haroonabad at 3,290.