NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Cotton futures settled higher
on Tuesday on trade and investor buying inspired in part by a
surge in outside markets, but some analysts feel weak fiber
demand could undermine the advance in the days ahead.

The key December cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S.
gained 0.51 cent to conclude at $1.0015 a lb, trading from
99.50 to $1.0218.

For the third straight session, the trading band of the
December contract was little changed. Monday's range stood at
99.52 cents to $1.023 and the Friday band was at 99 cents to
$1.02.

Traded volume on Monday was nearly 8,900 lots, more than a
quarter below the 30-day norm, preliminary Thomson Reuters data
showed.

'I don't see a big enthusiasm building in (buying) cotton,'
said Keith Brown, president of commodity firm Keith Brown and
Co in Moultrie, Georgia.

The rise in cotton was spurred in part by strong global
equity markets, he said. But he felt continued weak
demand for cotton may keep the upside limited.

Traders said investors would sell cotton if it gets to
$1.04 to $1.09 per lb. Then mills and commercial accounts
seem eager to book orders when the market dips under the
psychological $1 a lb mark.

'The critical thing is really demand for cotton. If we see
another round of cancellations in the USDA (export sales)
report on Thursday, it would be hard to imagine cotton going
higher from here,' a dealer said.

The weekly U.S. Agriculture Department's weekly export
sales report is due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) on
Thursday.

Investor interest in cotton remained weak as open interest
stood at 147,247 lots as of Sept 26, up slightly from 146,985
lots on Sept 23, the lowest since Aug 29, the exchange said.

In fact, the U.S. CFTC said speculators cut their net long
positions in cotton to 26,937 lots, the lowest since June.

Cotton's traded volume on Monday reached 12,568 lots,
versus the previous session's count at 14,873 lots, ICE Futures
U.S. data showed.