Crude palm oil futures on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed higher yesterday on short-covering activities, dealers said.

They said that higher soyaoil prices on China soyabean futures and signs of improving exports also boosted buying sentiment in the CPO futures market.

At the close, the May 2010, June 2010 and August 2010 contracts rose RM30 each to settle at RM2,520 per tonne, RM2,508 per tonne and RM2,494 per tonne, respectively, while July 2010 increased RM28 to RM2,498 per tonne.

Volume increased to 17,814 lots from 17,234 lots on Monday while open interest declined to 67,796 contracts from 69,645 contracts previously.

In the physical market, April South added RM20 to settle at RM2,520 per tonne. – Bernama