KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday, in line to snap five sessions of declines, bolstered by a weaker ringgit and firmer related edible oils.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange jumped 1.5 percent to 2,153 ringgit ($528.86) a tonne at the midday break, its biggest gain since Jan. 22.
The market, however, is down 4.6 percent so far on week, following a decline to its lowest levels in two months in the previous trading session. Trading volumes stood at 18,192 lots of 25 tonnes each at noon. <1FCPO-TOT>
"Firmer external markets lent palm support, along with the weaker ringgit," said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader, referring to palm's traded currency.
A weaker ringgit usually makes the edible oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies. The ringgit was last down 0.2 percent against the dollar at 4.0710.
In other related oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract had risen 0.5 percent on Thursday, but was last trading flat at around 0430 GMT on Friday.
The May soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 1.7 percent and the Dalian May palm oil contract rose 1 percent.
Palm oil prices are affected by movements in soyoil, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.
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