Kuala lumpur: Crude palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended higher on Thursday, buoyed by the upward momentum of crude oil prices and rival vegetable oil futures, a trader said.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani noted that the rise in crude oil prices was largely driven by recent United States strikes on Iran. "Crude oil prices jumped in early Thursday trading after reports of fresh US strikes overnight on an Iranian military site, escalating tensions even as Washington and Tehran were negotiating to end their three-month conflict," he informed BERNAMA.

At the time of writing, Brent crude recorded a 1.71 per cent increase, reaching US$95.90 per barrel. In addition to oil prices, Bagani highlighted that stronger Chinese vegetable oil futures and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean oil futures played a role in supporting market sentiment.

"Palm oil futures were seen trading further up in unison with the upward momentum in China's vegetable oil futures, including Dalian Commodity Exchange refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm olein and soybean oil and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange rapeseed oil, and the strong momentum in CBOT soybean oil futures," he added.

At the close of trading, the June 2026 contract rose RM33 to RM4,462 per tonne, July 2026 gained RM39 to RM4,505 per tonne, and August 2026 added RM41 to RM4,537 per tonne. The September 2026 contract increased RM38 to RM4,560 per tonne, October 2026 climbed RM32 to RM4,585 per tonne, and November 2026 improved RM30 to RM4,611 per tonne.

Trading volume fell to 59,830 lots from 63,916 lots on Tuesday, while open interest grew to 285,564 contracts from 284,109 contracts previously. The physical CPO price for June South edged up RM20 to RM4,490 per tonne.