NEW YORK, Sept 21: NY cotton futures settled firmer Friday on wary speculative buying tied partly to questions about the direction of Hurricane Isidore and unwanted rain drenching swathes of the US Delta.

December cotton added 0.12 cent to finish at 44.10 cents a lb, trading 44.05-44.90 cents. March gained 0.14 cent to 46.64 cents. Except for two contracts, the rest increased by 0.05-0.45cent.

Frank Weathersby of brokers Affinity Trading in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, said there was some cautious speculative buying as the market sought to glean which way Isidore will go when it enters the Gulf of Mexico by Saturday.

The hurricane looks like it has more of a tendency to go to southern Texas, he said, adding unwanted torrential downpours in Tennessee and the US Delta has aided the modest advance in cotton futures.

Jobe Moss of brokers and merchants MCM Inc. in Lubbock, Texas, said if Isidore shows up next week at the mouth of the Mississippi, cotton prices will likely jump by up to 1.00 cent, but a track away from the US Delta may prompt a sell-off in the cotton market.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Isidore was about to make landfall over western Cuba and that its center will enter the Gulf of Mexico on Friday evening.

The hurricane could get picked up and sent north by an oncoming upper trough, or get left behind to meander about in the Gulf toward Mexico, it said.

Heavy rains from Isidore are not welcome for farmers in Louisiana and Mississippi since cotton bolls in those areas are open and the rain could damage fiber quality as the harvest gets under way, analysts said.

Technicians said the December cotton contract would see resistance at 44.90 and 45.60 cents. Support is at 44.20 and 43.80 cents.

Floor dealers said estimated final volume touched 8,000 lots versus Thursday’s count of 5,190 lots. Open interest rose 306 to 68,503 lots as of Sept 19.—Reuters