* Malaysia's May palm oil exports down more than 3 pct - surveyors * Investors turn to production figures for clues - trader * Palm oil to recover drop from 2,420 ringgit - technicals By Anuradha Raghu KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday as traders bet on slowing production, notching a fourth straight weekly gain, although lacklustre exports weighed. Exports of Malaysian palm oil products fell more than 3 percent in May compared to a month ago, cargo surveyor data showed, as shipments to Europe and China slowed. Demand from India, however, rose as buyers stocked up ahead of a Muslim holy festival. Investors, who had been expecting a demand surge ahead of the Ramadan month when communal fasting normally drives up consumption, will look to output data due out in June 12 for more trading clues. "Exports in Malaysia are slow but Indonesia is pushing out more cargoes to meet Ramadan demand," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. "Production is not looking good this month and the month after. The market will probably go higher then." The benchmark August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 1.1 percent at 2,399 ringgit ($780) per tonne. Total traded volumes stood at 23,023 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the average 25,000 lots. Technicals showed palm oil seems to have stabilised above a support at 2,362 ringgit per tonne and is expected to recover its drop from Wednesday's high of 2,420 ringgit, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said. Palm oil is on track to notch its first monthly gain since January, with a near 4 percent rise that was underpinned by investor hopes of a cut in stocks due to near-stagnant production levels and increased buying. End-stocks in Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer, currently stand at 1.93 million tonnes. In other markets, oil slipped towards $102 a barrel on Friday as a surprise jump in U.S. crude stockpiles fuelled worries about demand from the top consumer, but a softer dollar amid hopes the Federal Reserve would maintain its stimulus checked losses. In vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for July delivery rose 0.1 percent in late Asian trade, drawing support from concerns that a slowing pace of soybean plantings in the U.S. will curb yields. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange ended up 0.1 percent. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1007 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL JUN3 2360 +34.00 2334 2360 43 MY PALM OIL JUL3 2392 +23.00 2370 2393 2396 MY PALM OIL AUG3 2399 +27.00 2373 2399 12318 CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP3 6140 -10.00 6130 6182 323952 CHINA SOYOIL SEP3 7480 +8.00 7468 7530 474020 CBOT SOY OIL JUL3 48.66 +0.08 48.51 48.70 4152 NYMEX CRUDE JUL3 92.80 -0.81 92.68 93.85 16284 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 ($1 = 3.0735 Malaysian ringgit)

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