KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures dipped on Thursday as selling in the Chinese markets and concerns over weak exports outweighed benefits from a weaker ringgit.

Benchmark palm oil futures for January on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.3 per cent lower at 2,789 ringgit ($666.91) a tonne at mid-day break. Traded volumes stood at 55,748 lots of 25 tonnes each.

A weaker ringgit would have typically boosted palm prices as it makes the tropical oil cheaper for holders of other currencies, but other factors offset the benefits on Thursday. Palm futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange had gained as much as 1.4pc early in the session, before giving up gains and closing 0.5pc lower at 5,954 yuan ($878.11) a tonne.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2016