KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell more than 1 per cent on Monday, charting a second straight session of losses as they tracked declines in crude oil and soyoil prices on the US Chicago Board of Trade.

The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 1.6pc at 2,185 ringgit ($526.13) a tonne, its sharpest daily decline in nearly three weeks. It had risen to a three-week peak of 2,235 ringgit on Friday, before reversing course and ending the session lower.

Trading volumes totalled 33,061 lots of 25 tonnes each on Monday.

Malaysia’s palm oil stocks likely edged down in September from seven-month highs in August as shipments from the world’s No. 2 exporter of the commodity outpaced production growth for the month, according to a Reuters survey.

Palm oil could fall to 2,200 ringgit per tonne, following its failure to break resistance at 2,240 ringgit, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018