Oct 4 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures rebounded on Friday, buoyed by a tentative deal ending a major port strike that had disrupted trade and shipping across the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, while higher oil prices also added to the upbeat sentiment.
* Cotton contracts for December CTZ4 rose 0.4 cent, or 0.55%, at 73.13 cents per lb at 12:08 p.m. EDT (1608 GMT). The natural fibre hit their lowest level in a week in the previous session.
* "The port strike that's been impacting trade and shipping in and out of the U.S., today seems to have come up to a tentative deal," said Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management consultant at StoneX Group.
"And that seems to be at least an encouragement to all the markets, particularly the commodities side, which has been deeply impacted already in just a couple of days that they've been shut down."
* U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports were reopened on Friday after dockworkers and port operators reached a wage deal to settle the industry's biggest work stoppage in nearly half a century, but clearing the cargo backlog will take time.
* Oil prices were on track for weekly gains as investors feared a wider Middle East conflict could disrupt crude flows after President Joe Biden said the U.S. was discussing an Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities. O/R
* Higher oil prices make cotton-substitute polyester more expensive.
* Keeping cotton gains in check, the dollar .DXY rose 0.6% against its rivals, making cotton more expensive for other currency holders. USD/
* In other agricultural markets, Chicago wheat slipped for a second day, as traders monitored rain forecasts for drought-hit Russian wheat belts and assessed how war escalation and importer demand might affect exports, while corn futures also eased. GRA/
* Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly report on Thursday showed net sales of upland cotton for 2024/2025 rose 9% to 95,800 running bales from the previous week, but were down 26% from the prior 4-week average. EXP/COT
Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese and Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas
