Cotton futures fell sharply on Thursday, with midday prices down 260 to 396 points from Wednesday's close. The October 2026 contract dropped 396 points to 76.6 cents, December 2026 lost 302 points to 78.53 cents, and March 2027 declined 300 points to 79.93 cents. Export sales data showed a marketing-year low of 34,360 running bales sold for the 2025/26 season in the week of July 9, while new crop sales hit their lowest since September at just 4,075 running bales. Shipments totaled 214,893 running bales, down 10.8% from the same week last year, with Vietnam as the leading year-to-date buyer at over 4.2 million bales. The Cotlook A Index fell 75 points to 89.95 cents, and ICE certified cotton stocks decreased by 20,673 bales to 100,612 bales.