SINGAPORE: Malaysian palm oil futures edged down on Thursday as the market booked profits after a US report raised the outlook for grain supply that weighed on food commodities.
The US Department of Agriculture made sharply higher revision to global stocks of nearly every type of grain except or US soybeans that are usually crushed to make competing soyoil.
US soybean stockpile was forecast at 160 million bushels at the end of 2011/12, 12 percent below what traders expected, although traders in Asia said it was not enough to support prices of palm oil. "When the report came out yesterday night, we saw that actually the numbers were kind of neutral to slightly bearish," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader, referring to the monthly US report that updates stock forecasts for grains and oilseeds.
"Even if there is a supportive input in that report, we believe that the market has already reacted on this issue," he added.
At midday, December palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange traded 0.1 percent lower at 2,861 Malaysian ringgit ($914) a tonne. The previous day, the contract hit a near two week high.
Traded volumes stood at 5,749 lots of 25 tonnes each.
Palm oil snapped a three-day winning streak that was initially driven by rising export data, short covering ahead of the US agriculture report and optimism about the European financial markets.
"So those people who went long yesterday are probably going short again because the market was still anticipating for another round of selling," the trader added.
Asian shares rose on Thursday on growing hopes that Europe is taking concrete steps to contain the region's debt woes and head off a systemic banking crisis.
Other key commodity markets fell on weak economic data from China -- one of the largest commodity buyers in the world. Brent crude futures fell to near $111 on Thursday, weighing on other edible oil prices.
US soyoil for December delivery barely moved in Asian trade. China's most active May 2012 soybean oil contract gained 0.4 percent.
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