KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22: Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell on Tuesday, weakened by the steady slide in rival US soyaoil and a lack of leads for buyers.

Third-month contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, February ended down 10 ringgit at 1,403 ringgit ($371.16) a ton.

Overall volume increased to 3,539 lots of 25 tons each from Monday’s 2,619 lots, but was less than the 6,000 lots seen on a busy day.

It’s basically a directionless market, said a trader.

Although prices have stayed above the key support of 1,400 ringgit, dealers said there was little potential for a rally due to volatile swings in soyaoil prices over the last fortnight.

Poor performance of palm oil exports following long holidays in early November for Diwali and Eid al-Fitr festivals also weighed on the market, dealers said.

I suspect there are people who’d happily sell below 1,400 ringgit now, but they want someone else to do it first, said another dealer.—Reuters