KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures dropped over 1 per cent at the close of trade on Tuesday, hitting their lowest levels in nearly six weeks, pressured by weaker soyoil prices and a forecast that February palm output will be higher than usual.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 1.4pc at 2,183 ringgit ($536.50) a tonne at the close of trade in a third straight session of falls.

It earlier fell to an intraday low of 2,166 ringgit, its lowest since Jan. 17. Trading volumes stood at 52,177 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2019