MUMBAI, April 29 (Reuters) - Indian soyoil futures shrugged off early losses to trade up on Thursday afternoon as hopes of improvement in demand due to ongoing wedding season outweighed weakness in Malaysian palm oil, analysts said.
Soybean futures rose on slight improvement in spot demand, while rapeseed edged higher tracking firmness in soybean and soyoil, they said.
"In edible oil segment, demand is improving gradually. But sharp rise in prices are unlikely as the country has built good inventory from imports," said an analyst at Sharekhan Commodities, said.
At 2:34 p.m., the May soyoil contract NSOK0 on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was up 0.28 percent at 451.2 rupees per 10 kg.
In the Indore spot market in top producer Madhya Pradesh, soybean price rose by 6 rupees at 1,984 rupees, and soyoil nudged up by 0.20 rupee to 445.75 rupees.
The May soybean contract NSBK0 was 0.87 percent up at 2,034 rupees per 100 kg, while the May rapeseed contract NRSK0 was up 0.26 percent at 500.70 rupees per 20 kg.
In the Jaipur spot market in top producing Rajasthan state, the price fell by 1.45 rupees to 489.2 rupees per 20 kg.
Malaysia palm oil futures extended losses for a third session on Thursday as traders booked profits in tandem with declines in U.S. and China soyoil markets. See [ID:nSGE63S066]
India's March oilmeal exports slumped 34 percent from a year earlier, falling for the fifth straight month, due to weak demand from Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and China, a trade body said. See [ID:nSGE6340AB]
(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Prem Udayabhanu)