NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures edged higher on Monday helped by concerns over dry weather conditions in key growing areas, while a muted dollar lent further support. The cotton contract for July rose 0.29 cent, or 0.4%, to 84.00 cents per lb by 12:35 pm EDT. It traded within a range of 83.35 and 85.04 cents a lb.

Dry weather continues to be a factor keeping the floor underneath this market, said Jon Marcus, president of Lakefront Futures and Options brokerage in Chicago.

However, "I don't think you're talking drought issues, otherwise the market would have catapulted way higher."

Market participants now await the US Department of Agriculture's weekly crop progress data due later in the day. On the technical front, "The July contract should experience resistance near 86.50 -87.00 and support near 80.00 and 77.00-78.00 over the near- to medium-term," Louis Rose, director of research and analytics at Tennessee-based Rose Commodity Group, said in a note. The dollar lingered near an over six-week trough, lowering the cost of purchasing cotton for buyers holding other currencies.

Total futures market volume fell by 3,803 to 22,853 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 3,139 to 216,555 contracts in the previous session. Speculators cut net long position by 522 contracts to 53,410 in week to April 13, data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday.