KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures edged lower at the midday break on Thursday, in line to snap two sessions of gains, on expectations of bearish official data on December inventories, production and exports.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.2 per cent to 2,178 ringgit ($531.87) a tonne at noon, coming off a near three-week high it had hit in the previous trading ession. Trading volumes stood at 7,656 lots of 25 tonnes each during the first half of trade.

Data from industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), released after the market paused for the midday break, showed end-stocks rising 6.9pc from the previous month to 3.21 million tonnes. The inventory levels are at their highest in at least 19 years, according to Refinitive Eikon data.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2019