---- Palm oil up 5.9pc for the week, best this year
"There's a technical break above the resistance level at 2,381 ringgit per tonne, and prices should remain supported above the 2,370 ringgit level," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "One factor could be the pre-weekend short cover."
At the close, the benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 3.8 percent to settle at 2,409 ringgit ($788) per tonne, just off a high at 2,410 ringgit, a level last seen on November 28. Total traded volumes stood at 33,240 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots. Technical analysis showed palm oil is expected to test resistance at 2,381 ringgit per tonne and a bullish target at 2,419 ringgit has been established, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
A small surprise increase in Malaysia's palm exports for the first 20 days of the month also injected cheer in the market, with cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance reporting a slight increase of 0.5 percent in shipments for the period from a month ago. A jump in crude palm oil exports during the period, which shows companies are pushing out exports ahead of the year-end expiry of their duty-free quota, could help ease record-high stocks in the No 2 palm producer.
Analysts, however, cautioned against an overly optimistic view on inventory levels, citing lower demand from the northern hemisphere, where the edible oil tends to solidify in winter. Palm oil prices were also supported by gains in competing vegetable oil markets. US soyoil for January delivery gained 1.8 percent in late Asian trade. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.6 percent higher.