March 15 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures slipped more than 2% on Wednesday, as a stronger dollar and weaker equities weighed on the natural fiber, while mills held off on restocking inventories eyeing further downside to prices.
* Cotton contract for May CTK3 fell 2.06 cents, or 2.5%, to 79.31 cents per lb by 11:18 a.m. EDT (1518 GMT), after slipping as much as 3.9% to 78.22 cents a lb earlier in the session.
* "The dollar has regained what it lost yesterday and the stock market has been down... All these macro factors are playing into to cottons problems today," said Jim Nunn, owner of Tennessee-based cotton brokerage Nunn Cotton.
* The dollar index .DXY rose 1.2%, making the natural fiber more expensive for buyers overseas. USD/
* Downbeat sentiment also spilled over from Wall Street, where U.S. stocks dropped as turbulence at Credit Suisse renewed fears of a banking crisis. .N
* "Cheaper prices are bound to help encourage some demand, but most of the mills, after seeing this market drop twice in a week, may be sitting back waiting on lower prices before they buy anything else," Nunn said.
* Traders await the U.S. Agriculture Department's weekly export sales data due for release at 8:30 a.m. EST on Thursday that could offer more cues on demand.
* Chicago wheat futures hit a one-week high before paring some gains, while corn rose for a second straight session as strong demand and uncertainty over a Black Sea grain export deal underpinned the market. GRA/
Reporting by Deep Vakil and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar