KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures edged lower on Friday as traders awaited industry production data for the first 20 days of the month before taking any fresh positions.

The benchmark palm oil contract for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.6 per cent at 2,044 ringgit ($487.60) a tonne, retreating after three sessions of gains. For the week, palm was up 3.7pc after two weekly declines. Trading volumes stood at 43,798 lots of 25 tonnes each. The market traded in a narrow range in the absence of catalysts, traders said.

“The market is trading sideways awaiting production estimates for the Nov 1-20 period,” said one Kuala Lumpur trader. Palm oil could bounce more to 2,144 ringgit a tonne, having found a strong support at 1,967 ringgit, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. “The bounce is categorised as a pullback towards a rising trendline around 2,150 ringgit. Eventually, palm oil could fall to 1,595 ringgit or 1,383 ringgit,” Tao added.

In related edible oils, the January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell as much as 0.2pc, while January palm oil was up 1pc. The US market was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2018