NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Cotton futures ended
fractionally higher Friday, rising for the sixth straight
session as players mulled EuropeΆs initiatives to tackle its
regional debt crisis, analysts said.

The key December cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S.
added 0.05 cent to close at $1.0437 per lb, dealing from
$1.0259 to $1.0505. It was the highest settlement for spot
cotton in six weeks.

Total volume traded Friday hit over 23,300 lots, some
two-thirds over the 30-day norm, preliminary Thomson Reuters
data showed.

Sharon Johnson, senior cotton analyst at commodity
brokerage Penson Futures in Atlanta, said a little
profit-taking pushed cotton lower before it recovered late.

Cotton seemed to be pausing in the same way as global
stocks, with U.S. and European shares taking a breather after a
strong rally built on a long-awaited euro zone rescue deal as
investor confidence remained a bit shaky.

The same type of action and market skepticism about the
euro deal was seen in the oil market while the grains
complex was mixed.

Johnson said most in the cotton trade saw the European deal
as a start to get the debt crisis behind them. ΅TheyΆre closer
to making the ugly decisions to get out of hock,Ά she said.

Technically, dealers said the December contract remained
above the 50-day moving average around $1.034.

Open interest in cotton, usually taken as an indicator of
investor exposure in cotton, stood at 160,896 lots as of Oct
27, its highest level since June 9, exchange data showed.

Total volume traded Thursday in the cotton market reached
25,566 lots, down from the previous tally of 13,764 lots, ICE
futures U.S. data reported.