22/02/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended up on Tuesday after touching an eight-month high the previous day, supported by a Greek bailout deal and stronger demand prospects indicated by Malaysian export trends.

Euro zone finance ministers struck a deal on Tuesday for a second bailout programme for Greece, providing temporary relief and lifting investor sentiment.

Demand prospects for the tropical oil were also looking up as latest data indicated an improvement in the pace of export.

"At the moment we have seen a bit of optimism as the European finance ministers have agreed on a Greek bailout. This is positive news for the commodity market," said Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Benchmark May palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 0.7 percent to close at 3,268 ringgit ($1,083) per tonne. Prices hit a high of 3,276 ringgit on Monday, the highest since June last year.

Trading was active as volumes stood at 28,368 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 25,000 lots.

Reuters analyst Wang Tao said a bullish target at 3,322 ringgit has been modified to 3,292 ringgit for palm oil due to a retracement from the Monday high of 3,276 ringgit.

Some market players expect improving demand prospects for palm oil to lift the futures market, which has gained almost 3 percent so far this year.

"The futures market should continue the uptrend with bullish expectations on remaining February exports," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

Malaysian palm oil exports from Feb. 1 to 20 eased just 2 percent and 0.6 percent from a month ago, according to cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance, respectively, compared to a 14 percent decline for the first 15 days of the month.

Crude palm oil exports picked up from near-zero levels in the beginning of the month, with traders attributing the rise to the tax-free export quotas of 3 million tonnes issued early February after weeks of delay.

Oil held near $120 a barrel on Tuesday as world consumers grappled with supply disruptions ranging from Iran to Sudan to the North Sea. Oil also rose briefly after Europe's much-awaited bailout of Greece.

The U.S. soyoil contract for March delivery gained 0.6 percent on the first day of trading after a long weekend while the most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange was almost flat.       
    
  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1001 GMT
                                                                    
  Contract                      Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL              MAR2    3234   +15.00    3208    3234     813
  MY PALM OIL              APR2    3260   +23.00    3222    3263    3453
  MY PALM OIL              MAY2    3268   +23.00    3230    3274   14400
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2    8366    +0.00    8302    8370  131620
  CHINA SOYOIL          SEP2    9402    +0.00    9336    9416  338306
  CBOT SOY OIL          MAR2   53.74    +0.34   53.34   53.91    4978
  NYMEX CRUDE        MAR2  104.66    +1.64  104.26  105.44   10427
                                                                    
  Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
  CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
  Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
  Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel

* Bursa Malaysia holds its annual Palm and Lauric Oils
  Conference & Exhibition Price Outlook 2012 from March 5 to 7 in
   Kuala Lumpur. For details, see www.pocmalaysia.com
   ($1=3.017 ringgit)