April 17 (Reuters) - ICE cotton futures edged lower on Tuesday to touch more than a one-week low after prices failed to surpass a strong resistance level, amid expectations of rain in Texas, the major cotton-growing region in United States.
* ICE cotton contract for July expiry CTN8 settled down 0.27 cent, or 0.32 percent, at 82.95 cents per lb.
* It traded within a range of 81.97, a low since April 6, and 83.49 cents a lb.
* Prices hit a one-month high of 83.94 cents on Monday.
* "The market is in a trading range of 81-84 ... until we significantly break out 84, it has run out of gas," said Jobe Moss, a broker with MCM Inc in Lubbock, Texas.
* "We've got a rain event, possibly, it could be a really good one for West Texas and then you've got exports on Thursday and I don't think anybody wants to drive the market up in case we get another poor export figure."
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported net upland sales of 179,400 running bales for 2017-18 for the week ended April 5, down 51 percent from the previous week and 46 percent from the prior four-week average. "The biggest thing that we're watching right now is what happens in West Texas this weekend and if we will get a big rain event," said Beau Stephenson, merchant at Omnicotton Inc.
* Total futures market volume fell by 338 to 38,604 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 3,642 to 268,410 contracts in the previous session.
* Certificated cotton stocks CERT-COT-STX deliverable as of April 16 totaled 68,534 480-lb bales, up from 67,863 in the previous session.
Source: Reuters