KUALA LUMPUR, June 2: Malaysia’s palm oil futures pressed upwards on Monday, boosted by chart-driven short covering after benchmark August contract briefly broke the 1,420 ringgit resistance level, traders said.

It’s a chart-driven market, but good exports also support sentiment, said one dealer.

At the close, third-month August was quoted at 1,419 ringgit a ton, up three ringgit, after trading as high as 1,423 ringgit.

Overall volume was slow at 3,592 lots against 6,154 lots last Friday. Earlier, cargo surveyor SGS said Malaysian palm oil exports for May stood at 1,078,622 tons, up slightly from 1,012,256 tonnes for April.

June (CPO) for the central region was offered at 1,505 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,500 ringgit. Business was done at 1,500 to 1,502.50 ringgit a ton.—Reuters