Malaysian palm oil futures gained more than 1 percent in the second half of trading on Monday, snapping five straight sessions of declines, tracking strength in crude oil and US Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soyaoil. The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery was up 0.9 percent at 2,162 ringgit ($523.87) a tonne on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange at the close of trade, its strongest daily gain in two weeks.
It earlier rose as much as 1.3 percent to an intraday high of 2,170 ringgit, after hitting a three-year low on Friday. Palm shed 3.6 percent last week in its second consecutive weekly decline.
Trading volumes stood at 37,379 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close of trade. CBOT soyaoil's gain on Friday and firm crude oil on Monday helped palm oil open on a strong note, said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader.
A second trader added that crude oil's jump to a four-year top later in the day provided more support to palm.
Oil prices jumped more than 2 percent to a four-year high on Monday after OPEC declined to announce an immediate increase in production despite calls by US President Donald Trump for aaction to raise global supply Palm oil prices are impacted by movements in crude oil, as palm is used as feedstock to make biodiesel.
In other related oils, the Chicago September soyabean oil contract jumped 1.8 percent on Friday but was down 0.1 percent on Monday. Chinese financial markets were closed on Monday for the Mid-Autumn festival. Trading will resume on Tuesday.
Palm oil prices are affected by movements of other edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.