* US 2012 cotton acreage estimated at 13.155 mln acres
* Survey pegs lantings at 12.74-12.76 mln acres
* Tight supplies blunt bearish impact on cotton market

NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - Cotton futures finished
easier Friday on speculative selling sparked by a bearish
plantings report from the U.S. Agriculture Department, but
renewed investor buying due to tight nearby supplies quickly
pared market losses, analysts said.
USDA forecast U.S. 2012 cotton sowings at 13.155 million
acres, higher than a Thomson Reuters survey's range of 12.74
million to 12.76 million acres.
The number was below the forecast by industry group National
Cotton Council which pegged plantings at 13.63 million acres.
The benchmark May contract on ICE Futures U.S. shed
0.02 cent to finish at 93.52 cents per lb, near the upper end of
its 92.28 tgo 94 cents band.
New-crop December added 0.28 cent to finish at 91
cents, having recovered from a session low of 89.74 cents.
The market is up across the board -- in the first quarter of
2012, for the month of March and for the week.
Cotton went up 1.87 percent from its end-fourth quarter
finish of 91.80 cents, it increased 3.4 percent from the
end-February close of 90.44 cents, and the market was up 4.35
percent from last week's close of 89.62 cents.
"The market overreacted this morning," said Sharon Johnson,
senior cotton analyst at commodities brokerage Penson Futures.
She said that while the USDA plantings figure was above
trade expectations, the survey was done on March 1, and would
not obviously be the final figure with spring still to unfold.
At that time, the price of cotton was around 90 cents and
grains such as soybeans was at $12 per bushel. Now, beans traded
at a Friday session peak of $13.70 while cotton only traded up
to but remained below 95 cents.
Analysts said that meant farmers in the U.S. Delta states
and the Southeast would likely shift to soybeans from cotton. In
California, water restrictions could also force farmers out of
cotton.
"By the time we get to the next acreage report in June,
cotton could be down 300,000, 400,000 (acres)," one said, adding
the USDA number was only the opening number in spring planting
season and would still evolve in the months ahead.
The USDAb's annual planted acreage report is released June
30, which will set the stage for the upcoming 2012/13 marketing
year (August/July).
Open intererst in the cotton market, an indicator of
investor exposure in the market, fell for the fourth straight
day to 188,368 lots as of March 29, ICE Futures U.S. data
showed.
Last Friday, the open interest in the cotton market was at
190,909 lots, the highest since Feb. 9, the exchange data
showed.