19/10/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures climbed on Thursday, fuelled by gathering concern over floods in key growing regions curbing output and a slew of economic data from the United States and China that showed global growth trends were intact.

Palm oil futures, which have lost 21 percent so far this year, also gained support from shortcovering by some investors  ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha next week. 

"The market should continue to go higher," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage. "They are expecting some floods because there's going to be rainy days ahead."

He added, "I'm expecting some short covering to take place either now or next week -- next week it will be Hari Raya Haji, referring to the Muslim holiday.

The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1 percent to close at 2,496 ringgit ($823) per tonne. 

Total traded volumes stood at 34,274 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots as more traders hedged positions.

Floods could complicate logistics and harvesting in Malaysia, the second largest producer of the edible oil, after yields bounced back strongly following a weak first half.

But the impact on output and stocks may be limited, since production hit a record in September, lifting stocks to an all-time high in the same month.

Palm oil futures also rose on gains in the U.S. soy complex, traders said. Soybean futures extended gains in Asian trade on Thursday, driven by bargain hunting after prices slid this week to their lowest since late June.

U.S. soyoil for December delivery climbed 0.9 percent. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.5 percent.

In a bullish signal for palm oil, crude oil held above $113 a barrel as Chinese economic data signalled stabilisation in the economy of the world's second-largest oil consumer while concern over supplies in the Middle East provided support.    

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      NOV2    2396    +3.00    2388    2422     559
  MY PALM OIL      DEC2    2456   +16.00    2440    2478    5322
  MY PALM OIL      JAN3    2496   +25.00    2475    2508   16323
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3    6950   +64.00    6906    6978  166870
  CHINA SOYOIL     MAY3    9250   +46.00    9226    9284  487786
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   51.48    +0.45   50.86   51.53    6074
  NYMEX CRUDE      NOV2   92.02    -0.09   91.83   92.24   15783

  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
  ($1=3.04 ringgit)