February 25, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 23, 1423

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24: Malaysia’s palm oil futures held in a narrow trading range on Monday, ending on a flat note ahead of the release of fresh exports estimates, traders said.

Cargo surveyors ITS and SGS are scheduled to issue the exports data for February 1-25 on Tuesday. Traders have expected the number to reach between 680,000-700,000 tons, down from 757,238 tons for the same period in January.

At the close, the benchmark third-month May futures ended one ringgit up at 1,614 ringgit ($424.74) a ton after trading between a low of 1,612 ringgit and a high of 1,618 ringgit.

Overall volume was slow at 1,525 lots.

Trade was reported for both months in the south at 1,625-1,627.50 ringgit a ton. In the central zone, deals were heard at 1,625-1,630 ringgit a ton.—Reuters