KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures yesterday extended gains for a second session, buoyed by stronger soyoil and technical buying, said traders. The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.7 percent at 2,715 ringgit ($643.98) a tonne at the midday break, posting its biggest daily percentage gain since Oct. 4.
Traded volumes stood at 15,117 lots of 25 tonnes each at the midday break yesterday.
The rise in palm prices was supported by gains in soyoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade and China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange, a Kuala Lumpurbased futures trader said.
The December soybean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade rose as much as 0.4 percent, while the January soybean oil contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed up to 0.1 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 0.6 percent. – Reuters
