KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday, tracking an uptick in soyoil, but expectation of lower February exports amid the coronavirus outbreak in China capped gains with the edible oil marking a weekly drop of more than 5 per cent.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 34 ringgit, or 1.3pc, higher at 2,659 ringgit ($642.89), after touching its lowest since Feb 3.

“Shanghai and Hong Kong stocks are in positive (territory) and not coming down ... soybean oil and Dalian came off lows tracking this ... it spurred some buying in the BMD,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said. Market sentiment got a lift after health officials said the daily death toll in Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, halved and the number of new cases dropped from a record posted the day before.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2020