KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher on Friday but was unchanged for the week, underpinned by a weaker ringgit and gains in rival soyaoil, but pressure from a forecast of higher February-end stockpiles capped the gains. The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 10 ringgit, or 0.27%, higher at 3,741 ringgit ($918.71) a tonne, after rising to an intraday high of 2%.
Palm logged its third straight session of gains.
Solid gains in Chicago Board of Trade soyaoil on the back of a rise in crude oil spilled over to push palm futures higher this morning, said Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics.
The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, fell 0.4% against the dollar, making the edible oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies.
Dalian’s most-active soyaoil contract gained 0.9%, while its palm oil contract rose 1.2%. Soyaoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.2%.
Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
A Reuters survey on Thursday pegged Malaysia’s end-February palm oil inventories 7% higher at 1.42 million tonnes as production picked up for the first time in five months. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange plans to launch its revamped crude palm kernel oil futures on Monday, the bourse said.
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