BANGKOK, June 3: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended mixed on Friday and trading was slow as players waited for fresh lead, dealers said. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives’ benchmark third-month palm oil contract, August, settled unchanged at 1,391 ringgit a ton ($366.05).

The day’s high was 1,393 ringgit, while the low was 1,378. Other traded months either settled up 1 to 2 ringgit or fell 4 ringgit. Overall volume was 3,194 lots of 25 tonnes each.Thursday’s business was 4,869 lots. The market usually sees 6,000 lots or more traded on a busy day.

Dealers said the market could move in a narrow range in the next week and follow the CBOT market in the absence of any other guide. Soy and palm compete for similar export destinations but their prices often move in step.

Soyaoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) ended mostly down in electronic trade on Friday, but the July contract settling up 0.01 cents to 22.94 cents a pound.—Reuters