Trader's Comment: CPO futures extended yesterday’s gains to end generally higher on pre-weekend covering.

CPO futures extended yesterday’s gains to end generally higher on pre-weekend covering. Prices rose steadily through out most of the sessions despite weakness in export data. Strong external market had provided tremendous supportive sentiment to the local CPO market, overshadowed the weak export data. Both eCBOT soy oil and Dalian palm had been edging up more than 1% today, while Asian time NYMEX crude oil holding steadily above $51 level after its overnight strong rally that also led Benchmark Jun09 to open RM16 higher at 1927 during its early morning trade. Both private cargo surveyor ITS & SGS had reported a decline of 8.9% and 5.6% respectively on the 1-20 Mar export data. Pre-weekend covering had also enhance the buying activities and sent Benchmark Jun09 to settle at intra day high of 1985.