US cotton falls 7-cent limit before delivery notices

Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. cotton futures slid their 7-cent limit Friday as a week of panic short-covering, which drove the March, May and July contracts limit-up in successive sessions, seemed to be exhausted, brokers said.

Prices rallied as mills were covering short positions before the first notice day on March contracts. Notices for delivery on March futures must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. EST (2200 GMT).

March cotton CTH1 on ICE Futures U.S. tumbled its limit, or 3.43 percent, to $1.9702 cents a lb, down from its record reached overnight of $2.1102.

(Reporting by Carole Vaporean; Editing by John Picinich)