KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower on Wednesday as the contract succumbed to selling pressure in late afternoon trade, reversing gains stemming from a weak ringgit which had lifted the tropical oil to a near two-week high.

Benchmark prices have pulled up from over three-week lows earlier this week, following a surge in Chinese and US soy markets, with robust export demand so far in May also fuelling the rise.

The August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange had edged down 0.3 per cent to 2,176 ringgit ($598.62) a tonne by Wednesday’s close. Prices earlier touched 2,198 ringgit, their highest since May 15.

Total traded volume stood at 29,325 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the average 35,000 lots. The Malaysian ringgit was down 0.2pc to 3.6350 per US dollar by 1038 GMT.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2015

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