NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. cotton futures finished
higher Tuesday on investor buying inspired in part by floods in
parts of the U.S. Delta, and drought in Texas provided support
for fiber contracts, analysts said.

The key July cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S.
rose 3.06 cents to close at $1.5751 per lb, trading from
$1.5356 to $1.4887 cents.

The new-crop December cotton futures added 1.31
cents to close at $1.2837 cents per lb.

Volume traded stood at almost 11,500 lots, over 50 percent
below the 30-day norm, Thomson Reuters preliminary data
showed.

Despite Tuesday's surge in values, open interest in the
cotton market dropped to 151,977 lots as of Monday, May 2, its
lowest level since October 12, 2009, data from ICE Futures U.S.
showed.

Open interest is normally seen as an indicator of investor
interest in the market and analysts feel the falling level of
such interest in cotton futures indicates that investors'
appetite for cotton is flagging.

'Cotton is looking at floods in Missouri,' said Keith
Brown, president of commodity firm Keith Brown and Co. in
Moultrie, Georgia, when asked about the steadiness of fiber
contracts.

Brown said the floods were caused by the decision of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had blown up a levee which flooded
130,000 acres of farmland in some southern U.S. states.

He added that a drought in Texas, the top cotton growing
state in the country, has also buoyed the market.

The market took note of a government report that showed
U.S. cotton plantings in 2011 continued to lag the norm.

The U.S. Agriculture Department's weekly crop progress data
showed that U.S. cotton 2011 plantings stood at 18 percent
planted as of May 1, behind the 24 percent at the same time in
2010 and the 5-year average of 24 percent.

Cotton plantings in Texas were at 16 percent, against last
year's 24 percent and the 5-year average of 23 percent.

Volume traded in the cotton market was at 12,623 lots as of
May 2, versus the previous tally of 13,852 lots, ICE Futures
U.S. data showed.