NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. cotton futures settled a
shade lower on Friday after being dominated by
position-squaring indicating demand for nearby cotton supplies,
traders said.

'It was a remarkably uneventful day, except that the
December cotton contract went up over March, after being
initially down earlier this week,' said Mike Stevens, an
independent cotton analyst in Mandeville, Louisiana.

The position-squaring came despite the S&P GSCI's
monthly 'roll' which compelled those tracking the commodities
index to sell the soon-to-expire benchmark December and buy
March, the market's second-month position.

'The fact December prices inverted again despite the GSCI
roll shows there are merchants prepared to take delivery of
nearby cotton,' Stevens said.

The key December cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S.
settled down 0.26 cents, or by 0.3 percent, at 99.24 cents per
lb, moving from 99.99 to 98.42. The contract goes off the board
on Dec. 7.

March cotton finished down 0.85 cents, or 0.9 percent, at
98.04 cents.

Cotton's weaker performance also bucked the broader rise in
oil and other commodity prices as the dollar fell.

Volume in cotton was, however, above average, with
preliminary data from Thomson Reuters showing nearly 24,000
transacted -- about 35 percent above the 30-day norm.