KUALA LUMPUR, June 23: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended higher on Friday on pre-weekend covering and good foreign demand on the back of weaker ringgit currency against the US dollar, traders said.

Expectations of better export numbers also helped sentiment.

The ringgit fell to 3.68 ringgit per dollar on Friday from 3.65 on Thursday.

The benchmark third-month September contract on Malaysia's derivatives exchange ended five ringgit at 1,468 ringgit ($398) a ton, after trading as high as 1,472. Other traded contracts were up one to nine ringgit.

Overall volume stood at a brisk 8,865 lots of 25 tons each.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) are due to release their estimates of Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 25 days of the month on Monday.

SGS reported a slight drop in exports for June 1-20.—Reuters