KUALA LUMPUR, May 31: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended higher on Wednesday, as exports estimates proved higher than traders had expected, dealers said.

The benchmark third-month August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange closed up five ringgit at 1,444 ringgit a ton ($398.9), off a high of 1,455 ringgit.

The market went up in the afternoon and volume was also very high because exports numbers are more than expectations, said one dealer. Particularly, the SGS numbers ... that prompted some people to do short covering.

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said on Wednesday that May exports of Malaysian oil palm products fell 3 per cent to 1,146,610 tons from April.

On the exchange, other traded contracts were up two ringgit to nine ringgit. Overall volume stood at 8,677 lots of 25 tons each.

Dealers said they expected the market to move in a narrow range on Thursday with immediate resistance at 1,450 ringgit and support at 1,440 ringgit.

The resistance is very, very strong, I don’t think it can break 1,450 ringgit, it will remain 1,440-1,450, said one dealer, citing market concerns about rising stocks.—Reuters