KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil hit a one-week peak on Friday, tracking rival vegetable oils higher with support from a weak ringgit, but eased in light afternoon trade to levels nearer Thursday’s close to end the week down slightly.

The September palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange ended up 0.13 per cent at 2,269 ringgit ($600.74) a tonne at close after trading in a 2,264-2,285 ringgit band.

Earlier, prices hit their highest since June 25 at 2,285 ringgit. Prices closed down 0.35pc this week.

Export and stocks data set to be released from next week could offer further direction, he added. The Malaysian ringgit traded at 10-year lows, making benchmark palm cheaper for overseas buyers.

Total traded volume for palm was 27,981 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the usual 35,000 lots. Signals are mixed for palm oil, as it has approached a resistance at 2,293 ringgit per tonne, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

In other vegetable oils, the US July soyoil contract rose 1.27pc, while the most active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was 0.6pc higher.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2015

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