KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures lost earlier gains and ended lower on Wednesday due to a strong ringgit, while anxiety about swelling supplies of global edible oils continued to drag.

Prices in early trade had touched a near one-week high of 2,052 ringgit, lifted by overnight gains in overseas soy markets and a round of technical correction.

The benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had inched down 1.7 per cent to 1,978 ringgit per tonne by Wednesday’s close, at the lower end of the day’s range of 1,973-2,052 ringgit. Total traded volume stood at 62,205 lots of 25 tonnes, much higher than the daily average of 35,000 lots.

The ringgit rose 0.38pc to 3.1480 per dollar late Wednesday on the back of demand from offshore funds. The stronger local currency squeezed margins and curbed buying interest from overseas investors. Palm oil is expected to rise more to 2,076 ringgit per tonne, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2014