(Update 2: Thurs 04/09/14 18:34:49)

SINGAPORE (Sept 04): Malaysian palm oil rose to a one-week top on Thursday, gaining for a third straight session as strong end-user demand drove prices higher, after the market slid to its lowest since 2009 earlier this week.

Palm oil futures have gained 5.2 percent since Tuesday, the biggest three-day gain since October as refiners stepped up crude oil buying after prices fell below 2,000 ringgit a tonne.

"Fundamentals are still bearish as we are going to see higher stocks by the end of this month," said one Kuala Lumpur-based trader. "But refiners have been very active in the market, buying crude palm oil. They are even willing to pay a premium on futures prices."

The benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 2.6 percent at 2,030 ringgit ($639) per tonne. Earlier in the session, the contract hit 2,033 ringgit a tonne, highest since Aug 27.  

Traded volume stood at 69,020 lots of 25 tonnes each, nearly double the usual daily average of 35,000 lots.

Malaysian palm oil stocks at the end of August likely jumped to their loftiest in seven months, as higher output due to crop-friendly weather outstripped poor export demand, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.

Shipments of Malaysian palm oil products fell 4.8 percent from a month earlier to 1,288,117 tonnes in August, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said, but recovered from steeper losses earlier in the month, as a surge in demand from India offset weaker imports by China and Europe.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for August fell 5 percent to 1,282,597 tonnes, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said.

Palm oil is expected to test resistance at 1,998 ringgit per tonne, as it has broken a lower resistance at 1,968 ringgit, according to Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

The U.S. soyoil contract for December gained more than 1 percent, while the most active soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange lost 0.7 percent.

In other markets, oil slipped to around $102 a barrel on Thursday, after a sharp rise the previous day, with more volatility expected as traders await the European Central Bank meeting and developments on Ukraine.
    
($1 = 3.177 Malaysian ringgit)
     
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1009 GMT
Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
MY PALM OIL      SEP4    2012   +28.00    1980    2027     311
MY PALM OIL      OCT4    2034   +52.00    1971    2034    4558
MY PALM OIL      NOV4    2030   +52.00    1965    2033   26300
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN5    5194   -12.00    5180    5222  431824
CHINA SOYOIL     JAN5    6010   -40.00    5992    6050  374056
CBOT SOY OIL     DEC4   32.29    +0.34   31.89   32.29    7091
NYMEX CRUDE      OCT4   95.09    -0.45   94.65   95.32   19728

Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel