JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil made its biggest gains in four weeks on Thursday, buoyed by a weakening ringgit, strong soy oil markets, and more trades to clear positions ahead of the end-of-month rollover.

“The market is up today on the back of soybean oil,” said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur, adding that the weakening of the Malaysian ringgit against the US dollar also provided support.

By Thursday’s close, the benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had advanced 1.69 per cent to 2,171 ringgit ($663.61) per tonne, its highest level since last Tuesday and the biggest single-day climb since Sept. 25.

Technicals showed palm oil is expected to test resistance at the 2,178 ringgit level, as it has overcome a barrier at 2,150 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

In other markets, Brent crude oil stabilised below $85 a barrel on Thursday as strong European and Chinese data offset a slide triggered by a higher-than-expected build in US crude stocks.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2014