Palm down for fifth day, but trades in a tight range
Category: Oilseeds
(Reuters) – Malaysian palm oil futures edged down for a fifth day on Thursday, with prices hovering in a tight range just above a near-three-week low hit on Wednesday, as competing external and local factors sent mixed signals, traders said.
By the midday break the benchmark August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange had edged down 0.23 percent to 2,137 ringgit ($593) a tonne, recovering slightly from Wednesday’s intraday low of 2,131 ringgit, the contract’s lowest level since April 30.
Total traded volume stood at 17,212 lots of 25 tonnes each, above the average 12,500 lots.
“The market today is a bit uncertain. External factors are bearish but the local front is bullish,” said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur, referring to competing vegetable oil markets, the Malaysian ringgit, recent strong export data and the approaching Muslim fasting month.
The start of the holy month of Ramadan next month, marked by communal fasting and feasting by Muslims, typically drives up consumption of edible oils and may underpin demand for palm in May and June, traders say.
The Malaysian ringgit edged up 0.32 percent against the dollar on Thursday but is down more than 1 percent so far this week.
Crude oil edged up on Thursday, supported by a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, although a weak Chinese manufacturing survey and concern about excess oil supply capped the gains.
In other vegetable oil markets, the U.S. July soyoil contract was up 0.12 percent by 0522 GMT, while the most active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.39 percent.
