June 26 (Reuters) - ICE cotton futures closed up for a second straight session on Monday, after hitting near 10-month lows earlier in the day as prospects of a bountiful crop in the new crop year kept buyers on the sidelines.

The market also awaited the U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual acreage report, which is scheduled for release at noon EDT (1600 GMT) on Friday, June 30.

The December cotton contract on ICE Futures , settled up 0.21 cent, or 0.31 percent, at 67.23 cents per lb. Prices broke a 10-session losing streak on Friday.

Prices earlier touched their lowest level since end-August at 66.15 cents a lb, and are down about 10 percent from the beginning of the month.

"Traders are not ready to buy, but the market keeps finding both fundamental and technical support," said Anestis Arampatzis, risk management consultant at INTL FCStone.

The speculators cut a bullish stance in cotton by 25,303 contracts to 45,183 in the week to June 20, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.

The fifth straight weekly cut brought their net long position to the smallest in about a year.

"The speculative funds were exiting the market and their withdrawal has continued," O.A. Cleveland, consulting economist at Cotton Experts, wrote in a note. "In fact, the commitment of traders report suggests fund liquidation has been more aggressive than expected ... Funds have just pulled out of cotton."

Total futures market volume fell by 7,775 to 22,032 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 2,993 to 199,256 contracts in the previous session.

(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)