KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday, hitting a one-week top on short-covering and expectations of higher demand ahead of Ramadan.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was 0.2 per cent higher at 2,445 ringgit ($624.04) a tonne at the close of trade, after three previous sessions of gains.

It rose to its strongest level since March 7 at 2,450 ringgit earlier in the session, and has gained about 4pc since it hit a more than one-and-a-half-year low on Monday. Trading volumes stood at 53,530 lots of 25 tonnes each on Thursday evening.

“With current low prices, there’s a window of opportunity for buying,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.

The market could also be up on expectations that demand will improve ahead of the Ramazan fasting month, said another trader.

The month of Ramazan begins in mid-May this year, when Muslims worldwide break day-long fasts with communal feasting, incurring higher usage of palm oil for cooking.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2018