NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - Cotton futures closed Friday
fractionally higher on buying by small speculators in a quiet
session and analysts said the market could drift in a narrow
band into next week.

The benchmark May contract on ICE Futures U.S. rose
0.05 cent to finish at 89.63 cents per lb, dealing from 89.32
to 90.50 cents.

For the week, the market is up 2.45 percent.

Volume traded Friday amounted to slightly over 13,100 lots,
some 45 percent under the 30-day norm, Thomson Reuters data
showed.

'The best you could say about it is it held its own,' said
Mike Stevens, an independent cotton analyst in Louisiana.

The longer-term outlook for the market is bearish given
rising cotton stocks and the prospect of large northern
hemisphere crops in the upcoming 2012/13 marketing season
(August/July).

Near-term, cotton futures have found strong support at 87
cents, basis May, because it is an area where mill and trade
buying has shown up.

Open interest, an indicator of investor exposure, rose for
the 11th straight session to 189,321 lots as of March 22, the
highest since Feb. 14, ICE Futures U.S. data showed.

Investors will be looking at the weekly U.S. CFTC report
later on Friday to see if investors continued increasing short
positions in the cotton market.

Last week, the CFTC said net short positions in the cotton
market stood at 7,553 lots, against a net long position of more
than 14,000 lots at the start of February.

After the CFTC data, the market will turn its focus to next
Friday when the USDA releases its keenly awaited annual
potential plantings report.