KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures slipped on Friday, tracking lower overseas soy markets and ending a five-day winning streak, but optimism for firm demand and a fragile ringgit prevented steeper losses to help palm notch its third straight weekly gain.

The December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell to as low as 2,105 ringgit in late trading after soyoil markets in the United States and China eased, and as a bout of mild technical correction pressured the tropical oil, traders said.

The US soyoil contract for December edged down 0.5 per cent in late Asian trade, while the most active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange dropped 2.1pc.

The benchmark palm prices closed 1.7pc lower at 2,109 ringgit ($652) per tonne.

The ringgit hit a four-month low on Friday, falling as much as 0.6pc to 3.2470 per dollar and leading the losses among emerging Asian currencies, after Malaysia’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged.

A weaker ringgit makes palm feedstock more attractive for overseas buyers and refiners. Total traded volume on Friday stood at 60,700 lots of 25 tonnes each, nearly double the daily average of 35,000 lots.

Technicals, however, were bearish. Palm oil failed to break resistance at 2,150 ringgit per tonne and is expected to fall to a support at 2,060 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

For the week, palm prices gained 1.2pc to record their third weekly rise after falling continuously for four weeks in a row.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2014