October 18, 2003	Saturday	Sha'aban 21, 1424

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17: Crude palm oil (CPO) prices on Malaysia’s derivatives exchange are likely to trade rangebound depending on the export figures that will be released early next week, dealers said on Friday.

CPO prices for November surged 202 ringgit ($53) this week to close Friday at 1,742 ringgit.

A dealer with a foreign brokerage described trading during the week as a roller-coaster, with prices going up and down.

Investors are watching export figures that will be released Monday. If the figures remain consistent, then we expect prices to trade rangebound between 1,650 and 1,750, he said. Another dealer said CPO prices could trade above 1,700 ringgit.

In the futures market, the November contract rose 202 ringgit to settle at 1,742, December rose 206 ringgit to 1,714, January jumped 199 ringgit to 1,682 and February gained 189 ringgit to 1,659.

The average daily price for November was 1,689 ringgit a ton.—AFP