Malaysian palm oil futures gained more than 3 percent at the close of trade on Friday, snapping five previous losing sessions, supported by short covering and forecasts of falling February production versus the previous month. Strength in related edible oils and a weaker ringgit had also added to palm's gains earlier in the day.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange jumped 3.2 percent to 2,189 ringgit ($537.57) a tonne at the close of trade, its biggest daily gain since Oct. 2016. The market, however, fell 3 percent on week, following a decline to its lowest levels in two months in the previous trading session.
Trading volumes stood at 56,850 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day. In other related oils, the Chicago March soyabean oil contract was last up 0.7 percent on Friday. The May soyaoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 1.5 percent and the Dalian May palm oil contract rose 1.5 percent. Palm oil prices are affected by movements in soyaoil, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.