KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Wednesday, as rival oils weakened and traders booked profits after prices rose to a two-week high in the previous session.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had dropped 1.59% to 4,696 ringgit ($1,123.44). It rose 3.56% on Tuesday, but slipped 0.5% in overnight trade.

A Kuala Lumpur-based trader said palm prices may cool off, given the high selling interest after big gains in the previous session, while Anilkumar Bagani, the research head at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group said the rally in the past few days encouraged investors to take profits.

The contract has logged five sessions of gains in seven, gaining 6.53% since last Monday.

“The market is now in a bid to consolidate before the Malaysian palm oil supply and demand previews, ahead of (government industry) data release next month,” he said.

Dalian’s soyoil contract slid 0.77%, while its palm oil contract dropped 0.83%. Soybean oil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.18%.

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