KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed a touch higher on Wednesday, with players unwilling to go long after seeing mixed fortunes in US soyaoil. Dealers said activity could drop in coming days as players await the release of key crop and trade data for September before deciding further action.

The official Malaysian Palm Oil Board is scheduled to issue on Monday production, exports and closing stock numbers for September versus August.

Reuters will issue estimates for these on Friday, through a poll of Malaysia’s top plantation houses.

At Wednesday’s close, the benchmark third-month crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, December, was up 2 ringgit at 1,467 ringgit ($388.99) a ton.

Its high for the day was 1,471 ringgit and low 1,458.

Other traded months closed up 1 ringgit to down 7 .

Overall volume was 5,856 lots of 25 tons each, a little lower than Tuesday’s 5,047 lots. The market typically sees 6,000 lots or more on an active day.

It was basically directionless after what happened in soyaoil, said a trader, describing the action.

Prices of physical Malaysian crude palm oil were down, reflecting the broader futures market.

The physical spot contract for October saw offers at 1,470 ringgit a ton and bids at 1,465 in the southern region, versus Tuesday’s closing quote of 1,480/ 1,472.50.

In the central region on Wednesday, offers/bids were at 1,470/1,462.50 ringgit.

Trades closed at 1,470-1,465 ringgit in both regions.

—Reuters