Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Thursday evening in their sharpest daily drop in three weeks, recording a second straight day of losses as traders booked profits ahead of the long break for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Weaker performing related edible oils on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange also weighed on palm, traders said.
Benchmark palm oil futures for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 1.2 percent to 3,087 ringgit ($697.31) a tonne at the close of trade, its steepest daily fall since January 5. It earlier fell to an intraday low of 3,084 ringgit, palm's weakest level since January 16.
Traded volumes stood at 47,090 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.
"We're seeing some profit-taking over the long break for the new year. There's no other bullish news as well, as exports have already been taken into account," said a physical trader from Kuala Lumpur, referring to data from cargo surveyors that showed improving exports.
"Interest is now very low, most players are already on leave."
Palm oil export data showed rising demand, as shipments rose 9.3 percent in the January 1-25 period versus the previous month, two cargo surveyors said on Wednesday.
Bursa Malaysia will be closed for the second half of the trading day on January 27, and on January 30 for the Lunar New Year celebrations.
Palm is also weighed down by a weaker Dalian, said traders, as it tracks prices of related vegetable oils. The May soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 1.1 percent, while the May contract for Dalian palm olein dropped 2 percent.
In other related edible oils, the March soyabean oil contract on CBOT was up 0.1 percent.
Palm oil remains neutral in a range of 3,089-3,169 ringgit per tonne, according to Wang Tao, Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.