The most active cotton contract on ICE Futures US, the third-month December contract, settled up 0.11 cent, or 0.13 percent, at 84.29 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 84.13 and 85.14 cents a lb.
The market is trying to find a new level of support after it dropped off pretty sharply earlier this week, analysts said, adding people are waiting to see what happens next in the trade dispute between United States and China.
Cotton futures fell nearly 10 percent in three sessions from Friday to Tuesday as concerns about an escalation in the trade conflict sparked a selloff.
China's Commerce Ministry on Thursday accused the United States of being "capricious" over bilateral trade issues, and warned that the interests of US workers and farmers ultimately will be hurt by Washington's penchant for brandishing "big sticks."
"Starting to see some consolidation from the drop late last week/early this week... Test of the 100-day moving average for December is going to be an important level, along with next week's acreage number" from USDA, said Jon Marcus, president of the Lakefront Futures and Options brokerage firm in Chicago.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday reported exports of 312,800 running bales (RB) for the week of June 14 were down 32 percent from the previous week and 31 percent from the prior four-week average.
The USDA also reported net upland sales reductions of 112,400 RB for 2017-18 and net sales of 295,400 RB for 2018-19 for the same period.
Total futures market volume fell by 14,537 to 22,217 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 7,020 to 265,826 contracts in the previous session.
Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of June 20 totalled 85,439 480-lb bales, up from 84,976 in the previous session.