Cotton heads for weekly loss on lower grains, good harvest weather

Oct 16 (Reuters) — Cotton futures were steady on Friday and headed for a weekly decline, pressured by weaker grain markets and favorable harvest weather. Cotton contracts for December fell 0.01 cent, or 0.01%, to 80.05 cents per lb by 10:29 a.m. ET (1429 GMT). The contract was down about 0.7% for the week. "It's been sideways for at least two weeks... the sales were okay. They weren't very good, they weren't poor... and there is movement in the Chicago row crops. They're moving down, that puts pressure on cotton," said Rogers Varner, president of Varner Brokerage. Chicago grain markets remained under pressure, with wheat falling to a two-month low, corn hovering near a seven-week low and soybeans hitting a fresh seven-week low as abundant US harvest supplies and improving export competition weighed on prices. GRA/ The USDA's weekly export sales report for the week ended October 8 showed net sales of 146,900 running bales (RB) of upland cotton for the current marketing year. That compares with net sales of 165,100 RB reported for the week ended October 1. On the weather front, "drier weather in the Southeast U.S. this week should allow wetness to ease and drydown to improve" said Do