KUALA LUPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures climbed to a one-week top in early trade on Wednesday before paring some gains, charting a third consecutive day of gains as it tracked an increase in US soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and a weaker ringgit.

The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, on Wednesday, eased to its weakest levels against the dollar since end-December. It was last down 0.1pc to 4.1730. A weaker ringgit supports palm oil by making it cheaper for foreign buyers.

Benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.7pc at 2,029 ringgit ($486.22) a tonne at the close of trade on Wednesday. It earlier rose as much as 1.8pc to 2,050 ringgit, its strongest levels since May 8. “The market is tracking the overnight recovery in CBOT and further weakness in the ringgit today extended the technical pullback,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2019