KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures edged higher at the midday break on Thursday, in line to chart a first day of gains in five, on expectations of slowing February output in line with seasonal trend.
The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.3 percent to 2,257 ringgit ($555.50) a tonne at the midday break.
Trading volumes stood at 11,727 lots of 25 tonnes each at noon. <1FCPO-TOT>
"The market is up on production expectations," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader, adding that the market was expecting output in February to decline.
Output of palm oil, the world's most widely used edible oil, typically declines during the first quarter of the year in line with seasonal trend.
The trader added that production would also decline as February has fewer working days due to national holidays for the Lunar New Year in Malaysia.
Malaysian palm oil output in January had declined 3.9 percent to 1.74 million tonnes from the previous month, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.
In other related oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract was down 0.1 percent, while the May contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.1 percent. The Dalian January palm oil contract was up 0.1 percent.
Palm oil prices are affected by movements in soyoil rates, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.
Palm oil may keep hovering above a support at 2,249 ringgit or bounce towards a resistance at 2,285 ringgit per tonne, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
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