KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9: Malaysian palm oil futures finished higher on Thursday, buoyed by hopes of better palm oil exports for the first 10 days of the month.

Dealers expect October 1-10 exports to reach 388,000 tons due to heavy demand from top buyer India for the Hindu Diwali festival on October 24. SGS put September 1-10 exports at 332,497 tonnes.

Palm oil’s benchmark third-month contract on the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange, December, ended 11 ringgit up at 1,519 ringgit a tonne. Its high point was 1,530.

Other traded months were three ringgit to 18 ringgit up. Volume was 5,525 lots.

Physical crude palm oil (CPO) prices also rose.

CPO for October saw bids/sellers at 1,585/1,590 ringgit in the southern region of Malaysia, against Wednesday’s closing prices of 1,575/1,580. Trades were reported at 1,575-1,585.

Bids/offers for October CPO in the central region stood at 1,590/1,600 ringgit, with deals reported at 1,575-1,590.

November CPO south saw sellers at 1,570 and bids 1,560 ringgit, with trades done at 1,555-1,560 ringgit.—Reuters