Futures contracts of cotton traded up 2% on the MCX, tracking a sharp rise in the benchmark contract on ICE. May contract of cotton on MCX traded up 2.2% from the previous close. On ICE, the most-active July contract hit a three-year high of 82.18 cents per pound. Cotton prices on ICE rose sharply because of short covering. Prices rose as ending stocks of cotton are expected to fall globally in 2017-18. The US Department of Agriculture has pegged the world 2017-18 (Aug-Jul) cotton ending stocks at 87.14 million bales (1USbale=480 pound), lower from 89.52 million bales in 2016-17.