* Cotton pressured by weak outside markets
* Slow business deflates market interest

NEW YORK, July 12 (Reuters) - Cotton futures finished lower Thursday on
speculative sales spurred weaker financial markets, and brokers said the
subdued tone of dealings would persist on Friday.
The benchmark December cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S. fell 1.06
cents or nearly 1.5 percent to finish at 69.93 cents per lb, dealing from 69.66
to 71.40 cents.
Volume traded on Thursday stood at around 13,500 lots, almost two-thirds
below the 30-day norm, Thomson Reuters data showed.
"It's probably more concerned with the European situation and the (falling)
stock market," said Mike Stevens, an independent analyst in Mandeville,
Louisiana.
Global shares fell and the euro plumbed a 2-year low amid worries over
economic growth and dimmed expectations about any near-term stimulus by the U.S.
Federal Reserve.
Weekly export sales data from the U.S. Agriculture Department showed net
upland cotton sales at 8,800 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each).
"Business is slow and people are taking off," said Stevens of trading
activity.
Open interest, an indicator of investor interest, rose for the fourth
straight session to 169,408 lots as of July 11, the exchange said.
Volume traded on Wednesday amounted to 19,093 lots, according to ICE Futures
data.