November 19, 2002	Tuesday	Ramazan 13, 1423

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18: Malaysia’s crude palm oil futures failed to sustain last week’s gains and suffered further losses on Monday as players took profit and cautiously watched the soy market.

By the close, the new benchmark third-month February futures contract was 23 ringgit lower at 1,572 ringgit ($413.68) a tonne after trading as high as 1,586 ringgit. Overall volume was heavy at 3,752 lots.

The third-month contract ended 30 ringgit higher at 1,593 ringgit on Friday.

There’s no fresh news. I guess people are waiting for tonight’s closing in the Chicago soy markets, said one dealer.

In Alliance/CBOT/Eurex (A/C/E) trading, December soyaoil was 0.13 cents lower at 22.23 cents per lb.

On the physical market, crude palm oil for November saw bids at 1,575 ringgit a ton against sellers’ offers of 1,580 ringgit for southern and central regions.

December CPO was on offer at 1,590 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,580 ringgit for south and central.—Reuters