NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Cotton futures settled higher
Thursday on investor short-covering and possible consumer
buying as the market finally raced past a four-day trading band
and could move up on follow-through purchases next week.

The key December cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S.
jumped 2.69 cents, or 2.7 percent, to finish at $1.0222 a lb,
dealing between 98.21 cents and $1.0317.

Over the preceding four sessions, the cotton market's
December contract has traded in a range running from 99 cents
to $1.023.

Total volume traded on Wednesday hit almost 15,000 lots,
nearly a quarter above the 30-day norm, preliminary Thomson
Reuters data showed.

'You've got end-of-the week, end-of-the-month and
end-of-the-quarter buying,' said independent cotton analyst
Mike Stevens in Mandeville, Louisiana.

He said the close above the $1.02 region meant fiber
contracts should enjoy further follow-through buying on Friday
and possibly into next week.

Traders said there was some encouragement from the perkier
tone of outside financial markets.

Upbeat economic news from the United States and a stronger
euro-zone bailout fund lifted investor sentiment.

Oil and gold prices were also up.

The next target for cotton would be the $1.04-$1.09/lb
zone, an area from which the market broke down recently.

The amount of investor interest in cotton remained weak as
open interest stood at 147,974 lots as of Sept. 28, up slightly
from 147,611 lots on Sept. 23, the exchange said.

Total volume traded Wednesday in the cotton market reached
10,204 lots, versus the previous session's count at 11,154
lots, ICE Futures U.S. data showed.