JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures opened up on Tuesday, extending gains to a fourth consecutive session, supported by a steady decline of Malaysian ringgit, palm’s currency of trade.

Malaysian palm oil futures lower on profit taking

The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 28 ringgit, or 0.71%, to 3,961 ringgit ($905.79) a metric ton, as of 0231 GMT.

Fundamentals

• The Malaysian ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, weakened 0.53% against the dollar. A weaker ringgit makes palm oil more attractive for foreign currency holders.

• Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract fell 0.21%, while its palm oil contract was down 0.15%. The Chicago Board of Trade dropped 0.5%.

• Palm oil tracks price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. * Malaysia’s August palm oil exports are seen at 1,376,412 metric tons, according to Amspec Agri.

• Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for August fell 9.9% to 1,445,442 metric tons from 1,604,578 metric tons shipped during July, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said. * Indonesia raised its crude palm oil (CPO) reference price for September to $839.53 per metric ton from $820.11 in August.

• Brent oil prices slid in Asian trade on Tuesday as concern about a sluggish economy in China bringing down demand outweighed the impact of a blockade of oil production facilities in Libya.

• Stronger crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

• Palm oil may test support at 3,864 ringgit per metric ton, as it failed again to break resistance at 3,966 ringgit, according to Reuters’ technical analyst Wang Tao.