Malaysian palm oil futures rose more than 1 percent on Thursday evening, charting a third straight session of gains, as they tracked overnight strength in US soyaoil and drew support from a weaker ringgit. The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 1.5 percent at 2,231 ringgit ($538.24) a tonne at the close of trade.
Earlier in the session, it hit 2,232 ringgit, its strongest since Sept. 17. Trading volumes stood at 36,105 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close of trade. "The market is trying to hold above 2,200 ringgit on the previous day's soyaoil rally," a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader said. Another trader added that the weaker ringgit had also contributed to the market's gains. A weaker ringgit usually supports the price of palm by making it cheaper for holders of foreign currencies. It was last down 0.2 percent at 4.4145 against the dollar.
In other related oils, the Chicago December soyabean oil contract traded at a three-month high and rose 0.6 percent on Wednesday, as rain forecasts caused concerns about a potential delay in the US harvest. It was last trading flat at around 1108 GMT on Thursday. Chinese markets are closed for the week of Oct. 1-5 for the National Day holiday. Palm oil prices are affected by movements of other edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.