Dec 13 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures held steady on Wednesday, as traders stayed on the sidelines ahead of the U.S Department of Agriculture's (USDA) weekly export sales data.

* The front-month March contract CTc1 was little changed at 80.9 cents per lb by 10:50 a.m. ET (1550 GMT). Prices traded in a range of 80.86 and 81.63 cents a lb.

* The USDA's Agriculture's weekly export sales report is due on Thursday. EXP/COT

* "There's not that much downside pressure but there is not much reason to buy it (cotton) either, because demand is still pretty bad," said Peter Egli, director of risk management at British merchant Plexus Cotton.

* "We have good amount of sales on the books but still need to fix cotton under the market."

* Last week's export sales report showed exports up 57% from last week at 139,200 running bales (RB) even as net sales dropped 46% to 116,400 RB. EXP/COT

* Oil prices stabilised, but remained near six-month lows after a more than 3% drop in the previous session. Lower oil prices tend to subdue sentiment in cotton markets since they make polyester, a cotton substitute. O/R

* In the grain market, Chicago soybean futures eased as the forecast for rain in Brazil tempered worries about dryness hurting harvest prospects in the world's top soybean exporter while corn and wheat futures also edged lower.GRA/

Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Chang