Malaysian palm oil futures rose to their strongest in level in seven weeks in the second half of trade on Friday, tracking gains in US soyaoil on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.4% at 2,067 ringgit ($501.94) per tonne at the close of trade, its fifth consecutive session of gains. It earlier rose 0.7% to 2,073 ringgit, its strongest level since June 7. Palm is also up 4.8% for the week in a second week of gains.
"The market is expected to rebound as externals improve," said a futures trader based in Kuala Lumpur, referring to US soyaoil prices.
Another trader said palm prices were also supported by short covering activities.
US soyaoil futures on the CBOT had dipped 0.1% on Thursday after two previous days of strong gains, and were up 0.3% as of 1046 GMT on Thursday.
US soyabean futures dipped on Thursday after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its weekly export sales report that disappointed analysts, though it held steady on Friday.
In other related oils, the September soyaoil contract on the Dalian exchange rose 0.1% and the Dalian September palm oil contract gained 0.7%.
Palm oil prices are affected by movements in related oils that compete for a share of the global vegetable oils market.