JAKARTA, Oct 13 (Reuters) – Malaysian palm oil was down for a third day on Monday in low volume, but the decline was supported by a largely stable ringgit, as traders awaited stronger cues to move the market.
“It’s down marginally at the beginning of the week, looking for a new lead for the market with the ringgit holding quite well,” said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur, commenting on the light trading volume on Monday and mixed signals in competing oilseed markets.
The ringgit held its ground against the dollar during early trade on Monday, moving less than 0.1 percent, after slipping 0.5 percent on Friday.
A weaker ringgit against the dollar can encourage trade as foreign palm oil buyers get more for their money.
By the midday break, the benchmark contract FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had lost 0.32 percent to 2,175 ringgit ($667.59) per tonne.
Total traded volume on Monday stood at 8,237 lots of 25 tonnes, below the average of 12,500 lots traded by midday.
Technicals showed palm may break a support at 2,163 ringgit per tonne and fall further toward the next support at 2,125 ringgit, as a correction from the Oct. 1 high of 2,223 ringgit has not completed, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
In other markets, global oil futures lost more than a dollar on Monday after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signalled ample supplies and their willingness to bear lower prices to defend market share, although better-than-expected trade data from China pared losses.O/R
Soybeans firmed slightly after a sharp 2 percent drop in the previous session, after the USDA estimated the U.S. soybean crop would be 17 percent above the recently revised 2013 crop but below trade expectations averaging. GRA/
In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December BOZ4was up 0.62 percent in early Asian trade, while the most active January soybean oil contract DBYcv1 on the Dalian Commodities Exchange was unchanged from Friday’s close at 5,916 yuan.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0515 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL OCT4 0 +0.00 2205 0 0
MY PALM OIL NOV4 2185 -11.00 2184 2202 198
MY PALM OIL DEC4 2175 -7.00 2171 2192 6174
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN5 5218 -12.00 5184 5228 787252
CHINA SOYOIL JAN5 5916 +0.00 5878 5930 201632
CBOT SOY OIL DEC4 32.64 -2.70 32.24 32.77 3185
INDIA PALM OIL OCT4 449.10 -2.70 449.00 451.70 55
INDIA SOYOIL OCT4 595.40 -3.50 594.50 597.00 1320
NYMEX CRUDE NOV4 84.61 -1.21 84.25 85.63 15397
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 India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
(1 US dollar = 6.1250 Chinese yuan) (1 US dollar = 61.2400 Indian rupee) (1 US dollar = 3.2580 Malaysian ringgit)
Source : REUTERS
