NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Cotton futures closed higher
Tuesday on modest investor buying as the market remained firmly in
a wide band while showing little sign of a breakout soon, brokers
said.

The key December cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S.
rose 0.72 cent to finish at $1.1301 per lb, after dealing between
$1.1113 and $1.1325.

Volume traded hit almost 11,200 lots, almost 10 percent under
the 30-day average, preliminary Thomson Reuters data showed.
Independent cotton analyst Mike Stevens said cotton is in the
grip of uncertainty and lack of confidence in cotton demand going
forward.

'They're clearly waiting for (any kind of) stimulus to take
them one way or the other,' Stevens said.

The December contract has been trading a range of $1.09 to
$1.15 for several sessions and there is no sign a breakout is in
the offing, traders said.

For now, the market will be looking at the U.S. Agriculture
Department's weekly export sales report on Thursday to possibly
provide some inspiration for fiber contracts.

On Monday, USDA's crop progress data showed 44 percent of the
cotton crop in poor to very poor shape, against 12 percent in such
condition in 2010.

Monday's cotton futures volume stood at 8,901 lots compared
with the prior count of 15,192 lots, ICE Futures U.S. data
showed.