25/04/2013 (Reuters) -  Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Wednesday as buying interest surged after earlier losses, while hopes that near-stagnant output from the world's No.2 producer would help ease inventories also underpinned sentiment.

But bleak economic data that stoked concerns about a slowdown in global demand for commodities kept a lid on gains.

"There hasn't been any new developments in the market so it is drifting sideways these days. Overall there is pressure from the macro side -- energy markets are under pressure, and you have China and German data not looking too good," said a trader with foreign a commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

Gowth in Chinese factories slowed to a crawl as export demand dwindled, according to HSBC's flash PMI readings, while Germany, the euro zone's largest economy, saw business activity slip for the first time in five months.

"Things are friendly for palm itself," the trader added. "April's exports will likely be around 1.5 million tonnes. We are looking at a 2-3 percent rise in production, which would probably drop April's end-stocks to a 1.9 million tonne level."

Stocks stood at 2.17 million tonnes in March.    

The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged up 0.8 percent to close at 2,290 ringgit ($751) per tonne.

It traded between 2,260 and 2,304 ringgit. Total traded volumes stood at 24,635 lots of 25 tonnes each, lower than the average 35,000 lots.

Poor economic data from China, palm's second largest buyer, may cap gains in crude palm oil prices, analysts said.

"With the latest HSBC Purchasing Manager's Index for March ... worse than the median expectation, concerns have been growing with regards to the sustainability of Chinese growth," Phillip Futures said in a note on Wednesday.

Cargo surveyor data for the first 20 days of April showed that China has imported less palm products from Malaysia compared with the same period last month. Export data for April 1-25 will be released on Thursday. 

But near-stagnant production should help offset lower export demand and ease inventory level to below the 2 million tonne mark.

In other markets, Brent crude rose above $101 a barrel, drawing support from strong equity markets, but gains were capped by the gloomy economic data.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for July delivery gained 0.3 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange slipped 1.3 percent.    

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1006 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      MAY3    2286   +21.00    2263    2300     451
  MY PALM OIL      JUN3    2295   +19.00    2264    2311    2240
  MY PALM OIL      JUL3    2290   +17.00    2260    2304   13541
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP3    5936   -62.00    5924    6056  649808
  CHINA SOYOIL     SEP3    7316   -96.00    7310    7436 1009684
  CBOT SOY OIL     JUL3   48.56    +0.15   48.23   48.58    7534
  NYMEX CRUDE      JUN3   89.87    +0.69   89.21   89.96   20616

  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 = 3.048 ringgit)