March 20, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 16, 1424

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19: Malaysian palm oil futures ended mixed on Wednesday after trading in a narrow band ahead of a US deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to go into exile or face war.

The benchmark third-month futures, June contract closed one ringgit up at 1,478 ringgit ($388.95) a ton after trading in a 12-ringgit range.

Overall volume stood at 4,468 lots.

But falling domestic stocks could limit the downside, the trader added.

Malaysia’s palm oil stocks were expected to drop to 1.03 million tons at end-March from 1.09m tons at end-February.

Stocks could fall further to 920,000 tons at end-April, traders said.

In the physical crude palm oil market, sellers offered March/April CPO at 1,510 ringgit a ton — up five ringgit from Tuesday’s close — against bids at 1,505 ringgit in the southern and central regions.

Trade was reported at 1,505-1,510 ringgit for both months in both regions.—Reuters