January 28, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 27, 1426

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27: Malaysian crude palm oil futures continued their steady advance on Friday ahead of a long market break, but the key contract remained below resistance at 1,450 ringgit.

Bursa Malaysia Derivatives’ benchmark third-month crude palm oil, April , ended up four ringgit at 1,443 ringgit ($385.25) a ton after trading in a four-ringgit range.

Technically, we can break 1,450, but I’m not sure we can stay up there, said one dealer.

Palm oil prices have been trapped under 1,450 ringgit for weeks due to thin exports, although industry sources say lower production in the first quarter could reduce physical stocks of the commodity and spark a fresh run up.

Palm oil stocks in Malaysia, the world’s largest producing country, hit a record 1.6 million tons at end-November and were unchanged at the end of December as exports dropped.

Volume totalled 2,645 lots of 25 tons each, higher than the last two days but still nowhere near the 6,000 lots typically seen on a busy day.—Reuters