September 26, 2003	Friday	Rajab 28, 1424

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25: Malaysian palm oil futures closed higher on Thursday, boosted by strong export data for September 1-25 and a fresh rally overnight in rival soyaoil.

Palm oil’s benchmark third-month contract on the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange, December, ended up 19 ringgit at 1,437 ringgit a ton, off the day’s high of 1,447. Dealers pegged immediate resistance at 1,450 ringgit.

Volume improved to 7,064 lots from Wednesday’s 5,414 lots.

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) said Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 25 days of September stood at 1.03 million tons, up from 967,137 tons for August 1-25.

Dealers said exports for the whole month could exceed the 1.2 million tons seen in August.

In the physical crude palm oil (CPO) market, the September contract saw closing bids/offers at 1,485/1,490 ringgit a ton in the southern region of Malaysia. Trades were reported at 1,490-1,485.—Reuters