NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - U.S. cotton futures settled mixed Friday
as the market tried to find its footing after another sell-off in the
commodities sector this week, analysts said.

The key July cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S. increased 0.85
cent to close at $1.4515 per lb, dealing from $1.4206 to $1.4849. On the
week, the market is down 0.28 percent.

The new-crop December cotton futures lost 3.58 cents or by 3.0
percent to finish at $1.1561 per lb.

Volume traded stood around 14,400 lots, almost two-thirds below the
30-day norm, Thomson Reuters preliminary data showed.

'That was the (main) feature in cotton today - spread trade,' said Mike
Stevens, an independent cotton analyst in Mandeville, Louisiana.

Investors were buying the spot July contract and selling the December
contract, mainly because of belief that a major cotton merchant would
decertify over 300,000 (480-lb) bales of cotton and deliver it against the
board, dealers said.

'The reason it is bullish for July is that it is forcing those who are
short in July to cover their positions,' one explained.

Sharon Johnson, senior cotton analyst at commodity brokerage Penson
Futures, said reports of some rains falling in Texas probably pressured
investors who were long in the December contract to dump their holdings.

But she added that she is 'bullish' new-crop futures because of the
severe weather problems plaguing the U.S. cotton crop. Those problems
include severe flooding in the U.S. Delta states and drought in Texas and
Georgia, the top two cotton producing states in the country.

Open interest in the cotton market stood at 149,170 lots as of May 12,
from the prior rally of 150,125 lots, data from the ICE Futures U.S.
showed.

Open interest was at 147,578 lots on May 6, which is the lowest level
since October 2009, ICE Futures U.S. said.

Volume traded in the cotton market was at 19,584 lots as of May 11,
versus the previous tally of 19,551 lots, exchange data reported.