April 4, 2003	Friday	Safar 1, 1424

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3: Malaysia’s palm oil futures were steadier at the close on Thursday, rebounding from early lows on the back of heavy speculative buying, traders said.

At the close, benchmark third-month futures, June, was nine ringgit higher at 1,465 ringgit ($385.53) a ton after trading as low as 1,451 ringgit.

The contract had touched a high of 1,474 ringgit.

Overall volume was heavy at 7,705 lots.

In the coming months, India was likely to import around 450,000 tons of oil every month to meet a shortfall in domestic output, they said. The country bought a total of around 500,000 tons of oil in January and February.

April CPO for central region saw offers at 1,490 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,482.50. Business was done at 1,482.50 to 1,492.50 ringgit.—Reuters