Palm reverses course to trade up 1pc on stronger US soyoil

SINGAPORE: Malaysian palm oil futures reversed earlier losses on Friday, to rise more than 1%, as it tracked rival soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade.

However, palm posted a sharp fall for the week.

The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 38 ringgit, or 1.1%, at 3,415 ringgit ($825.48) a tonne, after falling as much as 3% to 3,251 ringgit earlier in the session.

"Prices fell because of a stronger external market," a Kuala Lumpur-based trader told Reuters.

US soybean futures rose sharply as persistent drought risks for US crops and bargain-buying helped prices recoup some of their spectacular losses from the previous day.

CBOT's soybean oil contract was up 4.5% after a 9.2% drop on Thursday.

Both soybean oil and palm oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, however, dropped 3% and 2.8%, respectively.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Despite reversing the day's losses, palm fell 6.5% over the week, adding to the previous week's more than 11% slump, as top buyer India put off plans to cut import taxes.