KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures recouped earlier losses to rise 1 per cent on Friday, tracking strength in crude oil prices. Palm had been down at the midday break as concerns over rising inventory levels weighed on the market.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 1pc at 2,172 ringgit ($525), after touching an intraday high of 2,178 ringgit. Palm gained 2.4pc this week, charting a third weekly gain in four. Trading volumes totalled 28,197 lots of 25 tonnes each.

In other related oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract rose 0.8pc, while the January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange jumped 2.1pc. Meanwhile, the Dalian January palm oil contract gained 1.3pc. Palm oil prices are affected by changes in soyoil prices, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2019