SINGAPORE, Nov 28: Malaysian palm oil futures eased on Wednesday, dropping for a second straight session on concerns that the US fiscal woes could hamper global economic growth and commodity demand.

Prices touched their highest in almost a week on Tuesday as a Greek debt deal provided brief comfort for investors, but lack of progress in the US budget talks and speculation that Malaysian palm oil inventories could hit a record high this month kept prices in a tight range.

“The market looks like it’s expected to just stay range bound this week,” said a Singapore-based trader with a global commodities trading house. “But for the longer term, sentiment has improved, compared to a month ago.” The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.7 per cent to close at 2,394 ringgit ($784) per ton. Prices traded in a range of 2,383 to 2,417 ringgit.

Total traded volumes stood at 31,818 lots of 25 tons each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots. Technicals showed mixed signals for palm oil, but it is biased to drop to 2,353 ringgit per ton, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Malaysian palm oil stocks hit a record high in October at 2.51 million tons on seasonally high production.—Reuters