* Upside momentum stalls at 10-day moving average
* Coming up: U.S. nonfarm August payrolls data Friday

NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Cotton futures ended higher on
Thursday, supported by outside market strength linked to a new
bond-buying program in Europe aimed at containing the region's
debt crisis.
Cotton futures were swept up in a broader-based rally that
saw the S&P 500 index surge to its highest level in more
than four years and the Nasdaq climb 2 percent on news
that the European Central Bank will undertake an aggressive
bond-buying program to help struggling euro zone countries.
The macro picture improved further after U.S. data showed
companies added staff in August at the fastest clip in five
months and a gauge of employment in the service sector also
brightened, helping cotton futures post their first positive
settlement in three trading days.
The benchmark December cotton contract rose 0.64 cent
to finish at 75.99 cents per lb, after dealing between 74.80 and
76.19 cents.
"We have the outside markets today to thank for that,"
Knight Futures cotton analyst Sharon Johnson said of cotton's
close higher.
But whether the cotton market extends the move could depend
once again on the outside markets, and their reaction to
Friday's U.S. payrolls report.
The median of forecasts from economists polled by Reuters is
for U.S. employers to have added 125,000 jobs in August, down
from 163,000 new hires in July.
"Come 8:35 (a.m. EDT) tomorrow morning we will see if the
employment data helps or hurts our case," Johnson said.
Looking at the technicals, the market's inability to break
above its intra-day high at 76.19 cents, a price-point that
corresponds with the 10-day moving average, suggests sellers
remain motivated to contain any rally.
"It is showing that we have some resistance at those highs,
banded by the 10-day moving average," Johnson said.
ICE cotton futures volumes stood above 14,500 lots in late
New York business, nearly 40 percent below the 30-day norm,
according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.