KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures ended Friday`s trade in negative territory, dragged down by weaker soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade and traders taking profits ahead of export data due on Monday.

The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.79 per cent down at 2,651 ringgit ($610.27) a tonne brealcing a five-session run of gains.

That streak helped the contract to a weekly gain of 2.83pc.

Traded volumes on Friday stood at 40,478 lots of 25 tonnes each at noon.

`The market is seeing a retracement after five days up, awaiting further developments,` said one Kuala Lumpurbased futures trader, adding that lacklustre soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade weighed on palm prices.

`Market sentiment, however, remains supportive. We are moving towards Ramadan and the Muslim festival month; therefore demand and exports remain strong and production will be slightly higher.`-Reuters