KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5: Malaysian palm oil futures closed firmer in slow trade on Wednesday with many players still on holiday and a lack of fresh leads keeping a lid on further gains.

At the close, the benchmark third-month April contract was four ringgit higher at 1,623 ringgit due to overnight rises in Chicago soyaoil futures.

The contract had touched a high of 1,636 ringgit.

Overall volume was slow at 2,992 lots.

The market was closed from last Friday through Tuesday for Lunar New Year and Federal Territory Day holidays.

“Many people have yet to go back to work after the long holiday. There’s no fresh news to move up the market at the moment,” said one trader.

But traders said activity would likely pick up next week with China expected to replenish its stocks following the New Year celebration.

China, which is slated to release import licences to local traders in mid-February, raised 2003 palm oil import quotas to 2.5 million tons from 2.4 million last year.

In the physical sector, the February/March crude palm oil contract was offered at 1,645 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,635 ringgit for southern and central regions.

Deals were reported at 1,635 ringgit a ton for south and at 1,635 and 1,640 ringgit for central.—Reuters