Oct 27 (Reuters) -U.S. cotton futures eased on Friday, but headed for their best week in eight as support from a strong U.S. export sales report rebuffed pressure from a firmer dollar.
* Cotton contracts for December CTZ3 fell 0.21 cent, or 0.3%, to 84.38 cents per lb at 12:02 p.m. ET (1602 GMT), after touching an 11-day peak earlier in the session.
* While the dollar was higher on the week, making cotton more expensive for overseas buyers, cotton was up 2.4% so far this week, on track to mark their biggest weekly increase since Sept. 1 after hitting a three-month low last Friday. USD/
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales report on Thursday showed net sales of 186,100 running bales for the marketing year 2023/2024, up noticeably from the previous week due to increases for China and Bangladesh. EXP/COT
* "It showed that we had some stronger sales coming out of the U.S. ... Other markets or buyers were pretty active when the market was coming down," said Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management consultant at StoneX Group.
* "As traders sell their contracts or roll them forward, we would expect to see potentially some downside on the front month December (contract) in the near term."
* Oil prices rose 1%, making polyester, a substitute for cotton, more expensive. O/R
* Elsewhere, Chicago corn and soybeans edged up with a sharp rise in crude oil and some improved signs for U.S. exports helping counter supply pressure from the U.S. harvest and South American planting. GRA/
Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber