Palm oil rises

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose about half a percent on Friday after two straight sessions of decline, tracking overnight gains in overseas markets and on cargo surveyor data showing strong exports.

The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.4 percent at 2,734 ringgit ($647.25) a tonne at the midday break, after declining 0.7 percent in the previous session.

The contract has shed about 0.5 percent so far this week after two straight weeks of gains. Traded volumes stood at 14,320 lots of 25 tonnes each at the midday break on Friday. The December soybean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) dropped 0.2 percent after climbing 1.3 percent on Thursday.