Cotton futures rose slightly on
Wednesday as a persistent short covering rally and outlook for
tight near-term supplies offset a broad downtrend in commodities
amid a stronger dollar.

Cotton is trading on its own right now, said Louis Barbera
of ICAP Cotton.

"The big spec (short) position hasn't gone anywhere."

* The front-month May contract on ICE Futures U.S.
settled up 0.02 cent, or 0.03 percent, at 58.39 cents per lb,
after touching a high of 58.58 cents.

* The dollar index was up 0.42 percent. The Thomson
Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index, which tracks 19
commodities, was down 2.19 percent.

* The front month May contract on ICE Futures U.S.
has been trading higher than the July and December contracts for
about a month. A backwardation, with nearby prices at a premium
to those further out, is often seen as a sign of tight nearby
supplies.

(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by James
Dalgleish)