13.03.2018 (DAWN.com) - KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil futures closed slightly higher on Monday after falling by as much as 1 per cent on the back of bearish government data released by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) at the midday break.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.2pc at 2,381 ringgit ($610.04) a tonne at the close, rising from its lowest in over a year-and-a-half reached in its previous trading session and snapping three days of losses. Palm earlier fell to an intraday low of 2,350 ringgit, a fresh low in over 18 months. Trading volumes stood at 44,320 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.

“The market is down on the MPOB data, palm will be weak as the external fundamentals are not good for palm,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader, referring to industry regulator data. Another trader said earlier he expected March production to rise month-on-month.