February 28, 2008	Thursday	Safar 20, 1429

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27: Malaysian palm oil futures rose nearly 2 per cent on Wednesday on bullish price forecasts and news of strong demand, but gains were tempered by easing rival soybean oil, traders said.

The benchmark May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 72 ringgit at 3,864 ringgit ($1,207) a ton after rising as much as 94 ringgit to 3,886 ringgit.

The market surged nearly 6 per cent to a record 3,914 ringgit on Monday, the biggest absolute rise in a single day.

China continues to buy but on the other hand soybean oil is down and people are doing a lot of profit taking, said a trader with a leading palm plantation firm in Kuala Lumpur.

Other traded months rose between 40 and 70 ringgit.

Overall trade stood at 10,402 lots of 25 tons each.

March soyoil ended up 0.67 cent per lb at 64.27 cents on Tuesday. But the contract fell 0.35 cent per lb to 63.92 during electronic trading on Wednesday after all-time highs the previous day.

Demand from China, Pakistan, India and the Middle East have all been talked about at the Bursa Malaysia’s annual conference taking place in Kuala Lumpur.—Reuters