Business on the European vegetable oil market grinded to a halt on Monday when it closed at noon for the New Year break, market sources said. Markets are closed from 1200 GMT on Monday and will re-open on January 2, 2008.
"Most players did not really open shop on the half day between the weekend and New Year's day. Nothing was going on at all, no bids, no trades," one broker said. Most products were hardly offered and mostly followed the trends in Chicago soyaoil and Malaysian palm oil, which were down on profit taking.