Malaysian palm oil futures fell for a fourth straight day on Thursday, hitting a two-year low, as weak sentiment persisted due to concerns about a trade war between China and the United States and on losses in US soyaoil.
The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.5 percent at 2,251 ringgit ($560.79) per tonne at the close. It earlier fell to an intra-day low of 2,238 ringgit, matching Tuesday's lowest levels and is at its weakest levels since July 2016.
Trading volumes stood at 59,361 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close. "The palm market is taking a breather after the massive sell-offs in China markets... But overall market sentiment is still negative," said a Singapore-based trader.
Palm oil had seen sharp declines earlier in the week, falling as much as 3 percent to two-year lows on Tuesday, tracking related edible oils on the US Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and China's Dalian Commodity Exchange.
Prices of commodities in China tumbled as investor sentiment was shaken by an intensifying trade war between Beijing and Washington.
Another trader added that palm also declined tracking weaker CBOT soyaoil. The Chicago July soyabean oil contract was last down 0.6 percent on Thursday.
Meanwhile, September soyabean oil on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was slightly down by 0.04 percent, while the Dalian September palm oil contract rose 1.5 percent.
Palm oil prices track the performance of other edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.