SINGAPORE, April 19: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended higher on Wednesday on some short covering but volumes were limited as traders refrained from building large positions ahead of export data to be released later this week.

The benchmark third-month crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, July , ended up 3 ringgit a ton at 1,471 ringgit ($401.6). Overall volume for the July contract was 3,011 lots. May ended up 6 ringgit at 1,436 and June was up 5 ringgit at 1,459.

It was a cautious market. We saw some short-covering here and there, said one Malaysian trader. Traders are pegging the key resistance for the July contract at 1,480 ringgit a ton.

The market is waiting for April 1-20 export data to be issued on Thursday by cargo surveyors Societe Generale de Surveillance and Intertek Testing Services.

Basically, people will be looking at the fundamentals. It’s just a matter of time before palm oil prices go up much higher because other commodities such as oil and metals are bullish, said another dealer in Kuala Lumpur.

If exports are good, the market will, of course, go up. If we break the next resistance level of 1,480, the price could hit 1,500, the dealer said, referring to a level last seen in early March.

Another trader said exports for the first 20 days of this month could exceed 700,000 tons.

Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher Tuesday, reaching a two-week high on a short-covering bounce amid a rally in soyaoil and strength in the gold and energy markets. May soyaoil closed 0.55 cent higher at 23.25 cents per lb and July was up 0.58 cent at 23.71 cents.

In physical trade of crude palm oil, April was offered at 1,435 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,430 ringgit for southern and central regions. Deals were done at 1,425 to 1,430 ringgit.

May CPO was offered at 1,440 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,435 ringgit for south and central. Deals were reported at 1,430 to 1,437.50 ringgit for south and at 1,425 to 1,437.50 ringgit a ton for central.—Reuters