ICE cotton futures slipped on Wednesday as the dollar firmed, while concerns about lower demand from top buyer China added further pressure.

* The December cotton contract (CTz3) fell 1.67 cent, or 2.1%, to 79.74 cents per lb by 11:31 a.m. EDT (1531 GMT). It traded in a range of 79.65 and 81.38 cents a lb.

* A stronger dollar and lower stock market have pressured cotton prices today, said Keith Brown, principal at cotton broker Keith Brown and Co, in Georgia.

* The dollar index edged up 0.1%, making the natural fiber less affordable for overseas buyers.

* Wall Street's main indexes slipped as investors awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve's June meeting for clues on the central bank's monetary policy path, while Sino-U.S. tensions and weak economic data from Beijing dented sentiment.

* Another factor contributing to today's market decline was China's domestic services report, that showed expansion but at a slower pace, indicating that demand for cotton products could decline, Brown added.

* China's services activity expanded at the slowest pace in five months in June, a private-sector survey showed on Wednesday, as weakening demand weighed on post-pandemic recovery momentum.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture in a weekly crop progress report on Monday showed 42% of the country's cotton was planted in the week ended July 2, compared with 28% a week ago.