NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - Cotton futures ended limit up Tuesday as
speculators bought on technical signals and analysts said momentum from the
rally would continue tomorrow, analysts said.

Benchmark December on ICE Futures U.S. rose its 4-cent daily
limit to conclude at $1.0076 per lb, with the session low at 93.20 cents.

Volume hit around 19,200 lots at 2:50 p.m. EDT (1750 GMT), almost 15
percent above the 30-day norm, Thomson Reuters preliminary data showed.

'It's a technically inspired advance,' said independent cotton analyst
Mike Stevens in Louisiana. 'If we close it up here, we can do more
tomorrow.'

Traders said there was nothing fundamental to power cotton higher as
players monitored the deadlocked talks to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and
prevent a ruinous default on Washington's obligations.

Stevens said 'some light trade buying but mostly short-covering took
prices back up' with automatic buy orders pushing cotton higher at 98.99
cents and then at $1.0018.

A close over $1.0018 and the cotton futures market may be poised for
further advances going forward, a dealer said.

On the fundamental front, the U.S. Agriculture Department's weekly crop
progress report on Monday showed that 40 percent of U.S. cotton was in poor
to very poor shape, against only 2 to 6 percent in poor to very poor
condition a year ago.

USDA said only 28 percent of U.S. cotton was in good to excellent
shape, compared to 68 percent in good to excellent condition at this time
last year.

Volume traded Monday amounted to 8,999 lots, the lowest level since
July 1, ICE Futures U.S. data showed.