29/01/2013 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures gained on Tuesday on expectation some buyers may switch after Indonesia announced a higher crude palm oil export tax, although gains were limited by persisting concerns over record stocks.

Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, will increase its export tax for crude palm oil to 9 percent for February from 7.5 percent in the previous month, while Malaysia's crude palm oil export tax will remain at zero percent for February.

"The market is a bit uncertain now, the focus is on stocks and exports. That's why we see some range-trading today," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "But the higher Indonesia tax could be a reason why the market is a bit positive."

By market close, the benchmark April contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had climbed 1.3 percent to 2,476 ringgit ($805) per tonne. The market traded in a range of 2,446-2,484 ringgit after resuming trading from a Monday holiday.

Total traded volumes stood at 30,506 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.   

Technical analysis shows palm oil is expected to test a resistance at 2,486 ringgit per tonne, a break above which will lead to a further gain to 2,522 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Market players will be looking out for Malaysia's January palm exports data due Thursday for further trading cues.

Shipments for the first 25 days of the month suffered a double-digit decline on lower Chinese and European demand, raising worries that stocks could still climb higher in January after hitting a record 2.63 million tonnes last month.

Palm oil exports from Indonesia fell 4 percent to 1.9 million tonnes in December from the previous month, industry data showed on Tuesday.

Brent crude stayed above $113 on Tuesday on hopes that  economic growth might be picking up in the world's largest oil consumer after a gauge of planned U.S. business spending rose in December, adding to recent positive global economic data. 

In competing vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for March delivery edged up 0.1 percent in late Asian trade. The most active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.5 percent lower.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      FEB3    2400   +18.00    2380    2411     513
  MY PALM OIL      MAR3    2443   +31.00    2414    2452    4060
  MY PALM OIL      APR3    2476   +31.00    2446    2484   16750
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP3    7014    +8.00    6982    7038  347106
  CHINA SOYOIL     SEP3    8684   -40.00    8660    8734  515556
  CBOT SOY OIL     MAR3   51.94    +0.05   51.75   52.01    3982
  NYMEX CRUDE      MAR3   96.57    +0.13   96.42   96.97   14123

  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=3.077 ringgit)