KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9: Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose 1.4 percent on Friday, lifted by firm prices of rival soyaoil and good buying interest after a sharp decline.

The benchmark third-month April contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange finished up 26 ringgit at 1,917 ringgit ($549) a ton.

It is mainly soyaoil which is moving the market, said one dealer. The decline yesterday has also prompted some buying. The market slipped 1.6 per cent on Thursday as investors liquidated long positions ahead of export and output data due next week.

Other contracts rose between 13 and 36 ringgit. Overall volume stood at 6,031 lots of 25 tons each.

The state-run Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release palm oil output, export and closing stocks data for January on Monday, when surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance release their export numbers for Feb. 1-10.

Malaysian palm oil usually follows the US soyaoil market because both commodities are used in products ranging from food and cosmetics to biodiesel.

March soyoil ended steady at 30.43 cents per lb, with the deferreds up 0.04 cent to down 0.07 cent. In electronic trading during Asian hours on Friday, the March contract was up 0.20 cent to 30.63 cents per lb.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products fell 20 per cent in January to 952,753 tons, from 1,198,976 tons shipped in December, Intertek Testing Services said.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for February shipment was quoted at 1,925/1,930 ringgit per ton. Trades were done between 1,920 and 1,925 ringgit a ton.—Reuters