Malaysian palm oil prices rose, tailing a fresh rebound in Chicago soyaoil, but trade was light as investors were wary of building positions ahead a long weekend in the United States. The Chicago Board of Trade, who trades soyabean and soya products, will be closed on Monday for US Independence Day. CBOT soyaoil futures have led most moves in crude palm oil futures on Bursar Malaysia Derivatives for weeks.
The two oils compete for export markets and their prices often move in step. On Friday's electronic session, the July contract for Chicago soyaoil rose more than 0.30 cent towards 24 cents a pound after sliding 0.93 cent at the end of Thursday's formal trade.
The rebound helped Bursar Malaysia's third-month crude palm oil, September, end up 4 ringgit after it showed a five ringgit-loss in the first hour of trade.
"It's going to be a long weekend in the US and no one wants to be caught in a long position if the soya market suddenly turns soft on Tuesday," said a palm oil trader, explaining the thinner gains in Kuala Lumpur.
September palm oil fell one percent on Thursday after Society General de Surveillance, the main surveyor of Malaysian oil palm cargoes, said exports dipped 9.5 percent in June from the previous month.
Besides the rebound in the September contract, the broader palm oil futures market was up 3 to 4 ringgit on Friday. Overall volume was 3,760 lots of 25 tonnes each.
The exchange usually sees 6,000 lots or more on a busy day. Bids and offers in physical trade of crude palm oil were down, taking their cue from the weak in futures.
Physical crude palm oil for July and August saw bids at 1,415 ringgit a tonne in Malaysia's central and southern regions, against offers at 1,420.
On Thursday's bids/offers were at 1,415/1,417.50 ringgit. Trades were reported for July only, at 1,410-1,420 ringgit in both regions.
PALM OIL FUTURES:
July (south): 1420.00.
Open/High/Low: 1405/1414/1403.
Previous closes: 1417.50.
PALM OIL PHYSICALS:
September (3rd month): 1412.
Previous settlement: 1408.
FUTURES:
Benchmark third-month September up 4 ringgit at 1,412 ringgit ($371.58) a tonne.
PHYSICALS:
Offers for July up 2.50 ringgit at 1,420 ringgit a tonne in the south.