15:11 EDT - Cotton rallied to a 1-month high settlement as traders covered short positions, eyeing ICE warehouse stocks, which have hit 17-year lows. "It is a bullish factor, but it's been a bullish factor" for several weeks, INTL FCStone's Andy Ryan says of the low stocks. He says rumors that China made another big purchase of US cotton are compounding the short-term supply concerns in the market, sending futures higher today. ICE cotton for Dec delivery settled 3.5% higher at 74.86c/lb., a high since Sept 14.