January 25, 2006	Wednesday	Zilhaj 24, 1426

BANGKOK, Jan 24: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended down on Tuesday, hit by profit taking ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday next week, dealers said.

In Kuala Lumpur, Bursa Malaysia Derivatives’ third-month crude palm oil futures contract, April, ended down 6 ringgit at 1,433 ringgit a ton ($383.1) after trading between 1,428 and 1,441 ringgit.

Toward the last one and a half hours, a bit of selling pressure came in” said one Malaysia dealer in Kuala Lumpur.

The broad market settled 2 and 6 ringgit down. Volume was 4,980 lots of 25 tons each.

The Malaysian palm oil market will be closed from Monday to Thursday next week for the Lunar New Year holiday.

It will depend on export figures. If it is going to be good, then the market should sustain, said the first dealer.

It should try to sustain at above 1,430 ringgit for the third month benchmark, he said referring to the April futures contract.

Malaysia is the world’s largest palm oil producer and exporter.—Reuters