Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended marginally lower on Wednesday, with the market lacking direction due to the holiday closure of Chicago Board of Trade's soya oil futures market.
"The market is just drifting, but it has not fallen much because of some covering interest," one trader said. Dealers said strong Chinese and European demand was limiting the market's downside. The benchmark third-month September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed down two ringgit at 1,487 ringgit ($407) a tonne.
Other contracts were down one to four ringgit. Overall volume was a thin 5,811 lots of 25 tonnes each. CBOT agricultural markets were closed on Tuesday for the US Independence Day holiday. Soya oil and palm oil are both used in products ranging from food and soap to cosmetics and biodiesel, so prices for the two commodities tend to move in tandem.
In the physical palm oil market, traders were offering crude palm oil for July shipment at 1,430 ringgit a tonne, with bids seen at 1,425. Trades were done at 1,420 to 1,430 ringgit a tonne.