Malaysian palm oil futures fell more than 1 percent on Friday, charting a second day of losses, weighed down by weaker overnight soyaoil on the US Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and profit booking. The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 1.3 percent at 2,157 ringgit ($516.15) a tonne at the close of trade.
Palm had traded at an eight week high earlier this week, and is up 4.3 percent for the week. Trading volumes stood at 29,780 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day. "The palm market is coming off today on some profit taking, and is also influenced by overnight soyaoil," said a Singapore- based trader referring to CBOT soyaoil.
Palm oil prices have been impacted by changes in soyaoil prices in recent sessions, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market. The Chicago January soyabean oil contract had declined 0.9 percent on Thursday, and was last trading flat around 1145 GMT on Friday.
US soyabean futures had hit three-week lows on Thursday, as improving crop prospects in South America overshadowed renewed Chinese demand for US shipments. Chinese importers are planning to make a third round of US soyabean purchases within days after a trade war truce between Washington and Beijing this month triggered China's largest US soya purchases in six months.
Meanwhile, the January soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 1 percent and the Dalian January palm oil contract dropped 1.2 percent. Palm oil may fall into a range of 2,121-2,150 ringgit per tonne, said Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals Wang Tao.
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