Palm oil higher

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures climbed 0.6 percent by midday on Monday, tracking gains in soybean oil and other edible oil contracts on the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose to 2,758 ringgit ($652.01) a tonne by midday. It had gained 0.7 percent on Friday, although it shed 0.3 percent last week.

Traded volumes at the midday break on Monday stood at 23,426 lots of 25 tonnes each. Traders said the upward movements on rival edible oil markets have buoyed palm prices. "Looks like the market is responding to bean oil gains last week due to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision," said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader.