Malaysian palm oil futures jumped by more than 1 percent to its highest in nearly a month on Tuesday, extending gains into a third session on strength in related edible oils and earlier weakness in the ringgit. The ringgit had hit its weakest since Dec. 27 on Tuesday, but closed up 0.1 percent at 4.0470 against the dollar. Weakness in palm's currency of trade supports the vegetable oil price by making it cheaper for holders of foreign currencies.
The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 1.3 percent at 2,235 ringgit ($548.60) a tonne at the close. It earlier hit an intraday high of 2,237 ringgit, its strongest levels since July 11.
Trading volumes stood at 52,881 lots of 25 tonnes each.
"The market was tracking soyabean oil during Asian hours," said a trader in Kuala Lumpur, referring to US soyaoil on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Palm oil prices are influenced by the performance of other edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
The Chicago December soyabean oil contract jumped 1 percent, while the September soyabean oil contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.6 percent.
US soyaoil rose in line with a rebound in soyabean prices after the US Department of Agriculture pegged the crop condition below market expectations.
Meanwhile, the Dalian September palm oil contract edged up 0.3 percent.