Malaysian palm oil futures on Thursday extended gains for a second session, buoyed by stronger soyaoil and technical buying, said traders. The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.6 percent at 2,711 ringgit ($642.42) a tonne at the close of trade, posting its biggest daily percentage gain since October 4.
Traded volumes stood at 44,120 lots of 25 tonnes each on Thursday evening. The rise in palm prices was supported by gains in soyaoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade and China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader said, while Dalian's refined, bleached and deodorized palm olein added support.
The December soyabean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade rose as much as 0.5 percent, while the January soyabean oil contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed up to 0.4 percent. The trader said further movements in the palm market would depend on the United States Department of Agriculture, which will release its monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates and Crop Production reports at 1600 GMT later in the day.
"If tonight's USDA report is bullish, we could have more upside tomorrow," she said. Palm's prices are impacted by movements of related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. In other related vegetable oils, the January palm olein contract went up by 1 percent.