Feb 27 (Reuters) - ICE cotton futures rose on Wednesday on expectations of strong U.S. weekly export sales data, while sentiment was boosted by the top U.S. trade official's comments on the inclusion of the natural fiber in a possible trade deal with China.
* The most active cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S., the May contract , settled up 0.34 cent, or 0.47 percent, at 72.36 cents per lb. * The contract traded within a range of 71.9 and 72.75 cents per lb.
* "People are fairly optimistic on tomorrow's sales report, which will be good because prices are kind of cheap and shipments have been picking up in the last few weeks," said Jordan Lea, senior trader at DECA Global.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture weekly export sales report will be released on Thursday. * U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Wednesday cotton is on the list of things the U.S. expects China to have substantial agreements on.
* "At least now we know that cotton will be included, so that's encouraging," said Lea.
* The United States is the world's biggest cotton exporter, while China is the top consumer.
* U.S. and China still have hard work ahead to secure a pact not only to end the dispute, but to ensure any agreements are met, the top U.S. trade negotiator told the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday at a hearing on U.S.-China issues.
* Total futures market volume fell by 5,140 to 16,078 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 2,018 to 220,435 contracts in the previous session.
* Certificated cotton stocks <CERT-COT-STX> deliverable as of Feb. 26 totaled 127,885 480-lb bales, down from 127,974 in the previous session.
(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru Editing by Susan Thomas)