JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures moved up and down on Friday for want for a direction, finally inching higher and posting a weekly gain, as market participants waited for new leads.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.31%, to 3,851 ringgit ($806.49) a metric ton when market closed. The contract gained 1.1% so for the week.

“It seem market is waiting for new leads with two groups of view neutralising each other, export vs production. With both Dalian and Chicago soyoil staying still, Malaysian palm oil futures too took this opportunity to consolidate,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-20 were seen falling by 3.4% to 18.3% from the previous month, cargo surveyors data showed.

Meanwhile, February output was estimated to drop compared to the previous month and the end-of-month inventory expected to drop below 2 million tons from 2.02 million tons by end of January, the trader added.

Palm ends lower on profit taking, lack of fresh buying

The soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 0.52%, while its palm oil contract fell 1.22%. Meanwhile, soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.31%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Palm oil may test support of 3,813 ringgit per metric ton, with a good chance of breaking below this level and falling towards 3,789 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.