* Cotton outperforms broader commodities market
* Market eyes monthly USDA planting reports next week

NEW YORK, July 6 (Reuters) - Cotton prices were flat to slightly higher on
Friday as fiber contracts recovered from the previous day's sell-off, bucking
the weak broader trend across commodities and financial markets.
The benchmark December cotton contract on the ICE Futures U.S.
exchange settled at 70.62 cents, up slightly from 70.58 cents a day earlier when
prices lost over 2 percent on a firmer dollar and weakness in commodity markets.

"I think today was consolidation after yesterday's losses," said John
Flanagan, analyst at Flanagan Trading Corp in North Carolina, cautioning that
prices may come under renewed pressure next week.
Analysts are concerned about the market's massive surplus heading into the
new marketing year which starts on August 1. Prices will find support around 65
cents, a level it hit in early June when it sank to October 2009 lows, if
selling does resume, Flanagan predicted.
Next week, the market will be turning its focus to the monthly USDA report
as it refines its figures before the start of the 2012/13 marketing year.
Even if the data is bullish for markets, the surplus washing around the
global market will likely cap any potential price gains.
"Many are expecting a decline in production because of bad weather and many
are expecting an export increase because we've sold more than we said we would,"
said Ron Lawson, managing director of logicadvisors.com.
While Friday's gains were only small, they were in stark contrast to the
hefty losses across commodities following weaker-than-expected June jobless data
for the United States. The euro hit a two-year low against the dollar.
Cotton even outperformed grains, which have provided support to fiber prices
amid continued fears about the drought stretching across the U.S. corn belt.