NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures dipped on Thursday as producers took advantage of contract highs set in the previous session, while a weaker dollar and strength in Chicago grains reined in losses.

Cotton contracts for December fell 0.22 cent, or 0.2%, to 90.30 cents per lb, by 11:38 a.m. EDT (1538 GMT).

Producers could be adding some selling pressure, with speculators also picking up profits from yesterday's new highs, said Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management associate at StoneX Group.

Cotton's December 2021 contract touched a new contract high of 91 cents per lb on Wednesday on robust global demand and firmer Chicago grain prices.

Chicago wheat futures rose for a second straight session on Thursday, underpinned by a severe drought curbing yields of top quality US spring wheat. Corn and soybean futures also climbed.

The dollar weakened, limiting the slide in cotton by making the natural fiber more affordable for buyers using other currencies.

The US Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales report showed net sales of 192,200 running bales (RB) for the 2021/2022 marketing year and exports of 238,300 RB, down 3% from the previous week and 5% from the prior 4-week average. "We have a week's data left for the 2020/21 crop season, and it looks like those figures are going to be a little below but not far off from the USDA's estimates," Thomen said, adding that new crop sales were a "pretty nice figure".

Total futures market volume fell by 8,831 to 9,603 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 2,239 to 247,615 contracts in the previous session.