(Updates with closing prices)
By Fransiska Nangoy
JAKARTA, Aug 28 (Reuters) – Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher on
Friday, posting their first weekly gain after eight consecutive weekly declines,
on the back of other commodity markets and a weaker ringgit.
The benchmark palm oil contract for November on the Bursa Malaysia
Derivatives market rose 3.4 percent to 1,994 ringgit ($ 475.67) a tonne, its
biggest increase since June 1. That followed a 3 percent gain in the previous
session.
Traded volume stood at 55,024 lots of 25 tonnes each, well above the roughly
35,000 tonnes average daily trading volume.
“The market is going for further retracement after an oversold palm,” said a
trader in Kuala Lumpur. “In the external market, soy oil, crude oil and palm oil
in Dalian are up sharply, our market is following.”
The palm benchmark hit its lowest since March 2009 on Tuesday, but later
recovered to post a 0.3 percent gain for the week.
Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst of commodities and energy technicals,
said palm oil may rise to 2,024 ringgit per tonne, following the completion of a
five-wave cycle. The cycle started at the July 3 high of 2,285 ringgit. A
Fibonacci retracement analysis reveals palm oil has climbed above a resistance
at 1,963 ringgit, the 23.6 percent level.
A weaker Malaysian ringgit also helped the commodity as it makes palm
cheaper for offshore buyers. The ringgit has been emerging Asia’s worst
performing currency, losing nearly 17 percent so far this year, on weakness in
global currencies and domestic political woes.
In comparative vegetable oils, the U.S. September soyoil contract was
1.1 percent higher in late Asian trade, while the most active soybean oil
contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange jumped 2.5 percent.
Oil prices steadied on Friday after bouncing back from 6-1/2 year lows on
recovering equities markets, strong U.S. economic growth and news of low crude
supplies from Nigeria.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1033 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL SEP5 1928 +60.00 1875 1928 19
MY PALM OIL OCT5 1956 +62.00 1898 1956 4166
MY PALM OIL NOV5 1994 +66.00 1938 1995 24695
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN6 4296 +164.00 4200 4296 1047530
CHINA SOYOIL JAN6 5408 +134.00 5322 5454 1052194
CBOT SOY OIL DEC5 27.54 +1.70 27.21 27.59 11580
INDIA PALM OIL AUG5 360.80 +1.70 359.10 362.30 1009
INDIA SOYOIL OCT5 572.20 -1.35 570.70 576.70 29920
NYMEX CRUDE OCT5 42.52 -0.04 41.78 43.46 74332
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($ 1 = 4.1920 ringgit)
($ 1 = 6.3865 Chinese yuan renminbi)
($ 1 = 66.1300 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by David Holmes)
