Cotton Extends Slump to 21-Month Low as Supplies Expand

Cotton tumbled to a 21-month low, trimming costs for clothing retailers including Gap Inc., after the U.S. forecast rising inventories and as industrial output slowed in Asia.

World stockpiles will climb 10 percent to 73.75 million bales in the season that starts Aug. 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Industrial output slowed in China and shrank in India, adding to concern that the global economy will weaken as the European debt crisis worsens. Rains are improving prospects for crops in Texas that were hurt by drought last year.