November 17, 2006	Friday	Shawwal 24, 1427

BANGKOK, Nov 16: Most Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed lower on Thursday as profit-taking pulled the market down after expectations of good exports and a decline in output due to wet weather lifted it in early trade.

The benchmark February contract contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange ended down a slight 2 ringgit at 1,755 ringgit ringgit a ton ($480.5) after trading between 1,747 ringgit and 1,781 ringgit.

There was selling in the afternoon session to book profits, a Malaysian dealer in Kuala Lumpur said.

Volume was heavy. Also, there were a lot of day speculators today, another dealer said. They moved up, but there was no follow-through buying, so they sold back. They moved down, but there was no follow-through selling, so they bought back. Other traded contracts were down 1 ringgit to 23 ringgit, but the December contract ended up 6 ringgit at 1,725

ringgit.

Overall volume was 23,172 lots of 25 tons each against Wednesday's 23,106 lots of 25 tons each. Malaysia's palm oil output is expected to decline in the next few months as the monsoon season began this month and usually lasts until January, dealers said.—Reuters