Palm oil rises

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Palm oil gained for a second day, tracking gains in crude oil and soybeans, which surged the most in six weeks on Friday on bets that increasing export demand for US crops will tighten global supplies.

The May-delivery contract advanced as much as 2.2 percent to 3,591 ringgit ($1,176) a ton on Monday on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange and traded at 3,527 ringgit a ton at 3:56 pm. US exporters reported the biggest week of corn sales since the marketing year began on Sept 1, and shippers sold 165,000 tons of soybeans to China for delivery after that date, the US Department of Agriculture said on Friday.

"US soybean futures soared last Friday, causing some spillover to palm oil prices," said Ker Chung Yang, an analyst with Phillip Futures Pte on Monday.