KUALA LUMPUR, March 7: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended down for a sixth straight day on Tuesday as players remained vague about direction in the near-term, dealers said.

Short-covering and a rebound in rival soyaoil lifted the palm oil market in early trade after it had lost one per cent the previous day.

The benchmark third-month May crude palm oil futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed down two ringgit at 1,472 ringgit ($396.34) a ton.

It had risen to as high as 1,483 ringgit in the morning. The broader futures market closed up two ringgit to down three.

May futures broke the 1,500 ringgit resistance on Feb. 27, almost a year since the 1,504 ringgit high registered by a third-month contract on March 16, 2005.—Reuters