March 31 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures settled down nearly 1% on Friday, weighed down by a stronger dollar and bigger-than-expected cotton plantings estimates from the U.S. government, but the natural fiber marked its best week since November.
* Cotton contracts for May CTc1 settled down 0.72 cent, or 0.9%, at 82.78 cents per lb by 2:32 p.m. EDT (18:32 GMT).
* The contract was up 8.2% this week, but declined for the fourth consecutive quarter.
* "I think the report is at the higher end of the expected range and the initial knee jerk reaction was lower," said Louis Barbera, partner and analyst at VLM Commodities Ltd.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture's planting intentions report showed U.S. cotton acreage at 11.256 million acres in 2023, versus the 11.212 million acres forecast in a Reuters poll.
* The dollar index .DXY rose 0.4%, making cotton more expensive for overseas buyers. USD/
* "We have secured ourselves above $0.77 now and probably below $0.85 for the near term," Barbera added.
* Meanwhile, Chicago wheat eased, while soybean and corn futures were nearly flat with all three grains set for quarterly losses, in light trade. GRA/
* Wall Street's main indexes gained and oil prices ticked up after data showed inflation slowed in February, supporting hopes of a softer monetary policy approach from the Federal Reserve. .N O/R
Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar