KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell 2% on Thursday and snapped a five-day rally, tracking US soyaoil, as traders booked profits ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 71 ringgit, or 2%, lower at 3,558 ringgit a tonne.

“Prices are down due to profit-taking. Yesterday’s rally was really overdone,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader told Reuters. “External markets are down too.”

Palm oil surged 1.6% on Wednesday, boosted by robust export data.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-10 rose 47.2% to 409,817 tonnes from 278,450 tonnes shipped during Jan. 1-10, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said on Wednesday. Also weighing on prices, soyaoil on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.3%. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market Bursa Malaysia will be closed for trading after the morning session on Thursday, and will also be closed on Friday for the Lunar New Year holiday.