* Biggest daily percentage fall in December futures since June 21
* Speculative sales and profit taking seen after price gains

NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - Cotton futures fell the most
in percentage terms in almost a month on Tuesday on speculative
sales and profit-taking, marking one of the few set backs to the
steady gain of recent weeks, dealers said.

The benchmark December cotton contract on ICE Futures
U.S. ended down 2.25 cents at 71.05 cents per lb, moving from
73.40 cents to 70.79 cents. The 3 percent loss was the steepest
since June 21.

Monday's was the loftiest close for the second-position
cotton contract since June 19, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Volume traded Tuesday stood near 19,000 lots, almost 40
percent under the 30-day norm, Thomson Reuters data showed. On
Monday 13,613 contracts traded, according to ICE Futures data.

Mike Stevens, an independent analyst in Mandeville,
Louisiana, said the December contract "stalled out" near 74
cents.

"Those who bought the market at 70 cents sold it off at 73
and near 74 cents," he added.

Traders said December cotton futures are still pinned
between 70 and 74 cents and seemed to show little sign of
breaking out of that band.

The market paid little heed to outside markets in Tuesday's
session. World stocks crawled higher in choppy trade
while the grains complex saw corn extend its gains as the U.S.
drought expanded.

Traders said the focus on macroeconomic factors will
continue to be a feature in market dealings this week.

Open interest, an indicator of investor interest, rose for
the sixth time in seven sessions to 172,173 lots as of July 16,
the exchange said.

Volume traded on Monday amounted to 13,613 lots, according
to ICE Futures data.