KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures edged higher on Thursday for a third straight session, buoyed by stronger rival Dalian and Chicago contracts and bargain buying.

The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 6 ringgit, or 0.15% higher at 3,938 ringgit ($844.16) a metric ton.

The contract opened 24 ringgit lower then traded mostly sideways despite softer rival edible oils, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.

The emergence of bargain buyers had brought the contract up to a high of 3,941 ringgit before it settled 1 ringgit lower at the midday close, the trader added.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract rose 0.76%, while its palm oil contract gained 0.53%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.57%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. Oil prices extended gains, buoyed by a bigger-than-expected decline last week in crude stockpiles in the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer.

Firmer crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock. The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, weakened 0.11% against the dollar, making the commodity less expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.

Malaysia maintained its August export tax for crude palm oil at 8.0% and raised its reference price, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed.