KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures closed 1% higher on Friday, on bargain buying and strength in rival soyaoil, but logged a weekly decline. The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 37 ringgit, or 1.06%, higher at 3,526 ringgit ($873.20) a tonne.

Palm plummeted 3.9% in the previous session and fell 0.9% for the week. Dalian’s most-active soyaoil contract rose 1.2%, while its palm oil contract gained 1.1%. Soyaoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade also advanced 0.9%. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.