Malaysian palm oil futures rose for a fourth session out of five on Monday, tracking competing vegetable oils and supported by a weaker ringgit. The palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 1.6 percent at 2,600 ringgit ($632) per tonne, after reaching its highest in nearly two weeks at 2,605 ringgit earlier in the day.
Traded volumes stood at 41,304 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the 2015 daily average of 44,600. Palm rose 1.2 percent last week after two straight weekly losses. "Soyoil was up overnight (Friday) ahead of the US holiday, and there is some ringgit weakness," said a trader in Kuala Lumpur. US markets were closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. The September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 1.7 percent on Monday, after the Chicago Board of Trade soyoil contract for July gained 1.4 percent on Friday.
The ringgit was 1 percent weaker against the dollar at 4.1150. Palm oil is traded in ringgit and a weaker ringgit makes the tropical oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies Technical analysis shows palm oil may rise towards the next resistance level at 2,634 ringgit, said Wang Tao, a Thomson Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. The offer price for crude palm kernel oil stood at 5059.59 ringgit per tonne in late trade, according to price assessments by Thomson Reuters.