Palm oil ticks up from 6-week low on weaker ringgit

• US soyoil futures on the US Chicago Board of Trade  were down 0.4pc.
• Palm oil prices are affected by movements in related oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
• Palm oil may end its fall around support at 2,114 ringgit per tonne.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures closed higher on Wednesday, after hitting a six-week low in the previous session and snapping five days of losses, supported by a weaker ringgit.

The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, fell to a three-day low against the dollar, making the edible oil cheaper for foreign buyers. The ringgit was last down 0.2pc at 4.1880.

The benchmark palm oil contract for the December delivery  on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.3pc at 2,147 ringgit ($512.66) per tonne at the close of trade.

"The ringgit's weakness supported the market which was slightly oversold, but the market will most likely remain range bound," said a Kuala Lumpur based trader, noting that weaker related edible oil prices would cap palm's gains.

US soyoil futures on the US Chicago Board of Trade  were down 0.4pc, while the January soyoil contract on the Dalian exchange fell 0.03pc.

Meanwhile, the Dalian January palm oil contract declined 0.6pc.

Palm oil prices are affected by movements in related oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

The commodity has weakened for the past five sessions on expectations of firm output and weaker demand. Malaysian palm oil shipments from Sept. 1-25 fell about 20pc compared with the same period last month, according to data from cargo surveyors Amspec Agri Malaysia and Societe Generale de Surveillance on Wednesday.

Output in Malaysia, the world's second largest producer, rose 4.6pc in August from a month earlier to 1.82 million tonnes, its highest levels since November, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board earlier this month.

Palm oil may end its fall around support at 2,114 ringgit per tonne, as suggested by a retracement analysis, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.