* NY cotton up nearly 1 pct vs extended selloff in crude oil
* Traders see market in current range till further news

NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Cotton closed up on Tuesday,
bucking the broad downward trend in commodities, as speculators
bought the fiber which had not rallied as much as other raw
materials in recent months ahead of U.S. economic stimulus
measures from the Federal Reserve.
Cotton futures in New York rebounded as prices of oil and
most other commodities fell sharply for a second day as
investors reevaluated potential market impact from an enlarged
bond-buying pledge from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
U.S. cotton's most-active futures contract, December,
settled up nearly 1 percent at 76.02 cents per lb, after moving
between 75.07 and 76.45 cents.
Trading was lighter than usual, with Thomson Reuters data
showing volume in New York futures down about 18 percent versus
the 30-day average.
December cotton fell 0.8 percent in Monday's session -- a
milder drop than the near 3 percent slump in crude oil.
In the previous two sessions, it gained 3.5 percent in
total, reacting to positive U.S. export sales data and the Fed's
announcement of the enlarged stimulus, which had boosted all
commodities.
Though Tuesday's rebound was largely unexpected, some cotton
traders said it was not entirely surprising, given the market's
restrained performance in recent months versus other key
commodities.
Oil's benchmark Brent crude in London gained nearly
17 percent for July and August combined, versus the about 8
percent in U.S. cotton.
"Cotton's not really paying much attention now to what's
happening in the outside markets," said Sharon Johnson, a cotton
specialist at Knight Futures in Atlanta, Georgia.
"I think we will bounce back and forth in this current price
range until some clearer news emerges."
Fundamentally, the outlook for cotton has not changed much,
with long-term concerns about waning demand and a record surplus
in supply keeping prices under 80 cents per lb since May.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture increased its
estimate for the global cotton surplus to an all-time high of
76.5 million 480-pound bales due in part to a drop in
consumption and imports by China.
The new forecast boosted by nearly 2 million bales last
month's estimate -- already the highest since USDA records began
in 1960. A large carryover from last season was also a factor.