KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5: Malaysian palm oil futures surrendered earlier gains and closed lower on Friday, as weakness in rival soyaoil and the ringgit’s recovery from one-week lows weighed on the market. The benchmark third-month palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, October, ended down 8 ringgit at 1,344 ringgit ($358.4) a ton, after trading as high as 1,358 ringgit in the morning.
Other traded months settled 6 to 12 ringgit lower. Overall volume stood at 3,162 lots, down from Thursday’s 5,647. Palm oil prices had risen in the morning after the Malaysian currency fell to a one-week low of 3.7580 against the dollar. The ringgit later bounced back to 3.7505, compared with 3.7450 at the close of Asian trading on Thursday.
Palm oil is exported in dollars. But its futures prices, which also determine export prices, are quoted in ringgit. Trades were reported at 1,345-1,335 ringgit in both regions.
