KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher on Wednesday, tracking buoyant soy oil and crude oil prices, and prompting short covering among traders. The benchmark palm oil February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.8pc at 2,644 ringgit ($643.31) a tonne.

Traded volume stood at 41,364 lots of 25 tonnes each. “There is a technical rebound triggered by stronger US soy and crude oil, as the market was earlier oversold. Short covering emerged after ringgit strength fail to spark a further selloff,” said a trader in Kuala Lumpur.

“Crude oil is holding well, challenging a previous high and the market is discounting the fact that palm dropped around 250 ringgit in the last week and a half, so there is some short covering among traders,” another Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2017