Palm trades in a sideways manner; weak Ringgit and technical buying limits losses

Technical buying and the weaker ringgit helped limit its losses.

At the close, the benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in January on Bursa Derivatives Exchange dropped 6 ringgit or 0.13% to 4,530 Ringgit ($1,039.47). The contract fell 1.59% in two consecutive sessions.

A Kuala Lumpur trader reported that the crude palm oil futures recovered from its early losses by midday, due to technical purchases and a weaker Ringgit.

The palm ringgit's trade currency, the dollar, fell by 0.48%, lowering the price of the commodity for buyers who hold foreign currencies.

Dalian's palm oil contract, which is the most active contract, fell 1.13% while soyoil prices dropped 1.52%. Chicago Board of Trade soyoil prices were down 2.6%.

As they compete to gain a share of the global vegetable oil market, palm oil monitors price changes in rival edible oils.

The oil price has fallen by over $4 per barrel since Israel's weekend retaliatory attack against Iran, which bypassed nuclear and oil facilities but did not disrupt the energy supply.

Palm oil is less appealing as a biodiesel source due to weaker crude oil futures. $1 = 4.3580 Ringgit (Reporting and editing by Ashley Tang, Rashmi aich, Vijay Kishore and Subhranshu Sahu)

(source: Reuters)