JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday after three straight sessions of losses but were on course for their first weekly decline in four, while the market awaited export data for cues.
The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 14 ringgit, or 0.28%, to 4,978 ringgit ($1,112.15) a metric ton by the midday break.
The contract has fallen 2.41% so far in the week.
“There was some profit-taking in palm oil ahead of the weekend, after it fell for three straight sessions…while investors awaited for export figures for more cues,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.
Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract fell 0.91%, while its palm oil contract rose 0.53%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.43%.
Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Malaysian palm oil falls tracking weak crude
Chicago soybean and corn futures fell for a fourth straight session, as traders worried that biofuel policy changes under the incoming U.S. presidential administration of Republican Donald Trump would chill domestic demand.
The European Parliament sought on Thursday to water down a ban on the import of commodities such as beef and soy linked to deforestation, and backed a one-year delay to the new rule, in a fresh push-back against the EU’s environmental agenda.
The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, inched higher 0.04% against the U.S. dollar, making the vegetable oil more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.
Oil prices fell on Friday on signs demand in China, the world’s biggest crude importer, continues to underperform amid its uneven economic recovery.
Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.
Palm oil may revisit its Nov. 14 low of 4,826 ringgit per ton, as its correction from 5,205 ringgit looks incomplete, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
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