By Julie Wernau

Cotton futures jumped Thursday after a rise above 64 cents triggered a number of short sellers in the market to buy futures to cover those bets.

Cotton for July delivery rose 2.3% to end at 64.33 cents a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange, its highest close since May 2.

Louis Rose, founder of commodities consulting firm Risk Analytics, said traders can expect selling pressure on Friday as producers attempt to take advantage of relatively higher prices to offload the last of the year's cotton.

"The contract is about finished," he said. "Producers who want a little bit of money, if they've got (unsold cotton), it is time to roll out."

Helping the bulls Thursday, China is still auctioning cotton from its government supplies. But it has begun to offer domestic cotton rather than imported cotton and at a slower rate--with 15,500 tons on offer Wednesday versus 30,000 tons at earlier auctions, according Price Futures Group.