KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower on Monday, recording falls in six out of eight sessions as losses in comparative soy markets weighed on sentiment, although hopes for weaker output to rein in stockpiles capped losses.

Investors were jittery over prospects that bigger supplies of soybeans for crushing into soyoil, a rival edible oil, would channel food and fuel demand away from palm.

Soybean futures fell on Monday on prospects that farmers in the US Midwest would speed up harvesting.

The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had edged down 0.5 per cent to 2,131 ringgit ($651) per tonne by Monday’s close, with prices trading between 2,112-2,132 ringgit. Total traded volume stood at 31,849 lots of 25 tonnes, slightly below the average 35,000 lots.

Published in Dawn, October 21st , 2014