Indian soyoil futures eased on Friday afternoon on profit-taking triggered by weakness in rival Malaysian palm oil and soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), but firm demand limited the losses. At 1:44 pm (0814 GMT), the April contract was down 0.58 percent at 458 rupees ($9.1) per 10 kg on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange.
The May contract eased 0.15 percent to 460 rupees after falling nearly four percent in two sessions. At 0814 GMT, the benchmark June palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.32 percent at 2,152 ringgit a tonne. The contract had earlier risen to a new high at 2,184 ringgit a tonne. July soyoil futures on CBOT was down 0.79 percent at 35.10 cents per pound during the electronic trade on Friday.
However, the losses were limited on good domestic demand and forecast by United States Department of Agriculture of a lower-than-expected soy plantng by the US farmers. "Recent government decision to scrap import duty on crude soyoil failed to pressurise the market because of robust demand in domestic market," brokerage Karvy Comtrade Ltd said.