June 29 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures rose nearly 1% on Thursday, drawing support from gains in wider equities market, while traders looked ahead to a key acreage report.
* The most-active December cotton contract CTz3 rose 0.8 cent, or 1.01%, to 78.14 cents per lb by 12:02 EDT a.m. (1602 GMT). It traded in a range of 77.16 and 78.6 cents a lb.
* "The acreage report will be crucial for cotton in particular, and has brought some stability into all the grains as well," said Jack Scoville, vice president at Chicago-based Price Futures Group.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) acreage report would be released on Friday.
* Analysts and traders in a Reuters poll estimate the report to project cotton plantings for 2023 at 11.119 million acres, down from March's 13.763 million acres.
* Helping the natural fiber market, Wall Street edged up as gains in banks offset hawkish Federal Reserve bets. .N
* Gains are being capped, since cotton weekly export sales have been weaker than the prior four-week average, Scoville added.
* The USDA weekly report showed net sales of 125,600 running bales (RB), noticeably up from the previous week, but down 44% from the prior four-week average. EXP/COT
* Also, a firmer dollar made cotton expensive for overseas buyers, limiting the crop's gains. USD/
* In the grains market, Chicago corn, wheat and soybean futures were little changed, consolidating after a two-day slide triggered by improved rain prospects for parched Midwest crops. GRA/
Reporting by Ananya Bajpai in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar