KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell more than 1 per cent on Friday, retreating from the previous session’s seven-month high, hindered by a stronger ringgit and losses in US soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 1.2 per cent at 2,290 ringgit ($563.07) a tonne, its sharpest daily fall in over a week. Palm rose to a seven-month high of 2,344 ringgit on Thursday but ended the week down 0.4pc after three weeks of gains. Trading volumes stood at 24,853 lots of 25 tonnes each.

“The drop in rival oilseed and continuous appreciation in the ringgit may renew selling activities,” said a Kuala Lumpur- based trader. A stronger ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, usually makes the edible oil more expensive for foreign buyers.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2019