July 8, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 11, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7: Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose sharply on Friday, propelled to their highest level in more than four months by strong buying and higher prices of rival soyail.

The third-month September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives broke the key resistance level of 1,500 ringgit to close up 14 ringgit at 1,512 ringgit ($415) a ton.

Other contracts were up between nine and 14 ringgit a ton. . Overall volumes stood at 9,916 lots of 25 tons each compared with 8,450 lots traded on Thursday. Technically the market is very strong, crossing 1,500 ringgit means the beginning of the bull run, said one dealer.

Traders were especially concerned about the western Midwest where soybeans need more rain as drought conditions intensified in the past week, according to the US Drought Monitor released on Thursday.

July soybeans closed up 14 cents at $6.08-per bushel, climbing to $6.12 -- the highest price since May 15.

New-crop November ended 14-cents up at $6.35-1/4,after reaching $6.38-1/2, just below its May high of $6.39 and a key resistance point.

In the physical palm oil market, traders were offering crude palm oil for July shipment at 1,455 ringgit a ton, with bids seen at 1,450. Trades were done at around 1,440 to 1,450 ringgit a ton.—Reuters