JAKARTA, Nov 28: Malaysian palm oil futures snapped a four-day rally to finish lower on Friday, as investors took profits and as weaker crude prices oil weighed on sentiment, traders said.

The benchmark February palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia’s Derivatives Exchange closed down 28 ringgit, or 1.69pc, to 1,632 ringgit ($451) per ton, coming off a high of 1,692 ringgit.

Other traded contracts were mostly lower, falling between 5 and 33 ringgit. Overall volume was thin, at just 9,676 lots of 25 tons each.

The market has gained 200 ringgit this week so it is normal if people choose to take some profit. There are also some concerns about weak crude oil prices, said a trader at an investment bank in Kuala Lumpur.

The same trader said the fact that the market did try to test 1,700 ringgit level on Friday showed there was still underlying optimism about demand.

The trader said the market uptrend was still intact with the immediate resistance levels at 1,720-1,730 ringgit.

Output in the No.2 palm oil producer is expected to slip 3.2 per cent to 1.6 million tons, the median of estimates from five plantation houses shows.

Overseas demand of palm oil -- used in a wide range of products, from biscuits and soap to alternative energy -- edged up 1.1 per cent to 1.35 million tons.

In Indonesia, the world’s largest palm producer, the state marketing centre in Jakarta sold palm oil at the top price of 5,915 rupiah ($0.49) per kg, up from 5,840 rupiah per kg on Thursday.

Producers in Medan -- home to Belawan port, Indonesia’s key port for palm oil exports -- sold palm oil at 5,650 rupiah per kg against 5,680 rupiah per kg on Thursday.

Meanwhile, refiners in Jakarta sold refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm olein, which is used in cooking oil, at 6,450-6,550 per kg, against 6,300-6,500 per kg on Thursday.—Reuters