1449 EST [Dow Jones]--Cotton futures prices on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange
for December delivery settled down near 4% or 4.85 cents, just up from their
limit down of 6 cents for the day, at $1.2890 a pound Wednesday. March cotton
futures, meanwhile, also settled down near 4%, or 5.05 cents, at $1.2415 a
pound. James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading Group in Tampa, Fla., said
China's announced plan to stabilize prices continued the process of flushing
out a lot of speculative money in the market. Meanwhile, traders await the next
export sales report set for release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture at
8:30 a.m. EST Thursday for clues to demand.