Big drop in certified stocks noted. Outside-day reversals up may have encouraged follow-through buying. Rains lifted spirits in the Texas Plains. California mapped about 291,600 acres of cotton.

Cotton futures settled higher on subdued volume Tuesday, up 34 to 77 points across the board, following a big drop posted in certified stocks.

December gained 48 points to settle at 67.71 cents, in the upper half of its 103-point range from down 13 points at 67.10 cents to up 90 points at 68.13 cents. It has closed higher three sessions in a row for a total gain of 97 points.

March had the smallest gain, settling at 67.52 cents, just above the midpoint of its 79-point range from 67.09 to 67.88 cents, and October the largest, closing at 69.75 cents. Maturing July closed up 76 points to 74.44 cents.

Certified stocks declined 111,040 bales to 378,117 bales. There were 114 newly certified bales and 111,154 bales decertified. Awaiting review were 2,437 bales, including 437 at Galveston and 2,000 at Memphis. Stocks had grown to the largest since July 2013.

Volume slowed to an estimated 19,016 lots from 22,697 lots the previous session when spreads accounted for 5,584 lots or 25% and EFP 22 lots. Options volume dipped to 5,554 lots (2,880 calls and 2,674 puts) from 8,235 lots (4,084 calls and 4,151 puts).

Back-to-back outside-day reversals up from new lows for the move in December on Friday and Monday amid oversold technical readings may have encouraged some follow-through buying.

Short-covering and light bottom fishing had helped the market recover from MondayΆs dip on the heels of widespread beneficial rains in the Texas High and Rolling Plains, an analyst at Lubbock commented. The rains, widely forecast, already may have been at least partially discounted.

The two-day price action heading into TuesdayΆs session had given indications that an interim low finally may have been in place, the analyst said, but added that relatively light volume made that suspect. Major bottoms usually are accompanied by heavy volume, he pointed out.

The weekend rains lifted spirits in the West Texas Plains, helping to preserve cotton stands in some dryland fields, providing the moisture for other dry-planted acreage to emerge and allowing producers to forego pumping water on irrigated land for a while. But the dryland crop is later than many producers would like,

Elsewhere on the crop scene in Texas, some bolls had begun to crack open last week in the Rio Grande Valley, according a weekly cotton review by USDAΆs Agricultural Marketing Service.

Boll openers and harvest-aid chemicals were applied on some early cotton, local reports indicated. Bolls were present on lower and upper branches. Cotton was blooming in the Upper Coast and Coastal Bend. Fields were monitored for plant pests, including stink bugs and bollworms.

In the far West, the California State Department of Agriculture Pink Bollworm Program had mapped approximately 291,600 acres of cotton in California as of June 20. The department didnΆt report the upland acreage planted, but local sources estimated it was about 25%.

The USDA March intentions showed 275,000 cotton acres in California, including 85,000 of upland and 190,000 of Pima.

Futures open interest increased 1,263 lots to 200,519 on Monday, breaking a string of eight consecutive declines. JulyΆs OI was down 907 lots to 837, DecemberΆs up 1,367 lots to 160,001 and MarchΆs up 211 lots to 25,901.