Cotton futures rose more than 1% to a more than six-month peak on Thursday helped by a positive exports sales report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and on optimism that China will buy more cotton after the "Phase 1" trade deal.

Cotton contracts for March rose 1.03 cent, or 1.54%, at 67.77 cents per lb by 12:33 p.m. EST (1733 GMT), having touched a session high of 67.88 cents earlier in the day, its highest since June 7. It traded within a range of 66.69 and 67.88 cents a lb.

The perception that China might be buying more cotton after the signing of a "Phase 1" trade deal is leading to speculative buying, said John Payne, senior broker at Daniels Trading. Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson Gao Feng told reporters on Thursday that trade teams from both countries are in close communication but added that no specific information could be disclosed.

The USDA in its weekly export-sales report showed net sales of 249,400 running bales (RB) for the 2019/20 marketing year, down 10% from the previous week but up 5% from the prior four-week average, for the period ended Dec. 12.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of Dec. 18 totaled 15,855 480-lb bales, down from 19,163 in the previous session. Total futures market volume fell by 5,492 to 15,753 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 658 to 205,443 contracts in the previous session.