NEW YORK, Sept 20: Cotton futures ended sharply higher Friday on investor buying stoked by a US plan to stop the rout in global financial markets, but brokers said prospects into next week remain distinctly uncertain.

The benchmark December cotton contract climbed 1.76 cents to close at 62.52 cents per lb, trading from 61 to 62.86 cents.

On Tuesday, the contract finished at 60.61 cents. Based on the second position daily charts, it was the lowest close for the contract since September 2007.

March increased 1.67 cents to 67.01 cents. Volume traded in the December contract stood at 9,529 lots.

When the news came out...cotton just joined in the parade, said Sharon Johnson, cotton expert for First Capitol Group in Atlanta, Georgia.

Johnson said the question next week for cotton is whether it can build on its gains on Friday, given the sharp sense of uncertainty about what the weekend will bring.

You’re just not sure if the positive mood from what they are doing today will last through the weekend or if we’re back to where we started this week, a dealer said.

Investor buying powered the market from the start but volumes were fairly modest, market sources said.

One trade house said that once calm returns to commodity futures and the cotton market in particular, the cotton market could be poised for a rally after being beaten down so much.

We expect cotton prices have probably bottomed this week and could be in for a substantial rally if further financial chaos can be avoided, said a daily commentary by brokers Flanagan Trading Corp.—Reuters