* Spec buying lifts market from month low
* Firm global stocks boost cotton
NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - Cotton futures settled higher
Tuesday on speculative short-covering as the market rebounded
from its fall to a month low, with strength in outside markets
giving fiber contracts a boost, traders said.
Global stocks surged as forecast-beating results of some
major U.S. companies spurred upbeat sentiment.
The benchmark May cotton contract on the ICE Futures
U.S. exchange rose 1.35 cents or 1.5 percent to finish at 89.43
cents per lb, dealing from 87.42 to 90.13 cents.
On Monday, the contract sank its 4-cent daily limit to end
at 88.08 cents, the lowest settlement close for cotton since
March 20, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The market has remained trapped in a range between 87 and 94
cents in the spot contract since the start of March, Thomson
Reuters data showed.
Tuesday's estimated volume reached slightly over 28,500
lots, almost a fifth below the 30-day norm, according to Thomson
Reuters data.
"I think we'll just chop around for now," Keith Brown,
president of commodity firm Keith Brown and Co. in Moultrie,
Georgia, said when asked about the next move in cotton.
Switch trade remained a feature as players moved out
positions in the spot contract before it goes into first notice
day for deliveries next week.
Open interest in the May contract stood at 18,808 lots as of
April 16, down 6,528 lots from the previous session.
Open interest amounted to 189,551 lots as of April 16, still
near the 193,427 lots of April 5, which was the most in cotton
since Feb. 15, 2011, ICE Futures U.S. exchange data showed.