Malaysian palm oil futures closed higher for the third day in a row on Friday evening, supported by gains in related edible oils and ahead of US-China trade talks at the G20 meeting on Saturday. The benchmark palm oil contract for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.6 percent at 2,040 ringgit ($487.80) a tonne at the end of the trading day.
It earlier rose to 2,046 ringgit, its highest levels since Nov. 26, but is down 5.1 percent in November, its third straight month of declines. Trading volumes stood at 33,891 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close of trade. "The market is up ahead of the G20 meeting, we are seeing some positioning," said a Singapore based trader.
"If US and China reach a deal or temporary truce we can see the Chicago Board of Trade soyabeans going up higher, which will take palm along with it." Chicago soyabeans ticked higher on Friday ahead of US-China trade talks at the G20 meeting. Trump had sent mixed signals about the prospects for a trade deal with China, saying an agreement was close but he was not sure he wanted one.
Earlier in the day, traders had said palm was supported by stronger soyaoil on the US Chicago Board of Trade and China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, and that the market expects Malaysian stock levels to peak in November before tapering off from December onwards. "This will be supportive if there are no other bearish external factors," one trader said.
Palm oil is affected by movements of other edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market. The Chicago December soyabean oil contract was up 0.4 percent on Friday, while the January soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.9 percent. In other related edible oils, the Dalian January palm oil contract edged up 0.4 percent.