KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell nearly 3 per cent on Friday, snapping a four-day rally, dragged by weaker rival oils and higher production forecast, though the market marked weekly gain on hopes of demand improving ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramazan.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 74 ringgit, or 2.93pc, to 2,450 ringgit ($587.53).

Palm fell as much as 3.9pc during the session.

The market took a breather after hefty gains and ahead of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board data due on Tuesday, said Sathia Varqa, owner and co-founder of Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics, referring to monthly supply and demand figures released by the industry regulator.

A sharp rise in production also added to the selling. Malaysia’s February output is expected to jump 12.97pc to 1.32 million tonnes from the month before, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said, said quoting data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Association, a group representing planters.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2020