KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell for a fourth straight day on Thursday, hitting a two-year low, as weak sentiment persisted due to concerns about a trade war between China and the United States and on losses in US soyoil.

The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.5 per cent at 2,251 ringgit ($560.79) per tonne at the close. It earlier fell to an intra-day low of 2,238 ringgit, matching Tuesday’s lowest levels and is at its weakest levels since July 2016. Trading volumes stood at 59,361 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close.

“The palm market is taking a breather after the massive sell-offs in China markets... But overall market sentiment is still negative,” said a Singapore-based trader.

Palm oil had seen sharp declines earlier in the week, falling as much as 3pc to two-year lows on Tuesday, tracking related edible oils on the US Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange. Prices of commodities in China tumbled as investor sentiment was shaken by an intensifying trade war between Beijing and Washington.

Another trader added that palm also declined tracking weaker CBOT soyoil.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2018