Palm oil climbs on weaker ringgit, notches biggest weekly gain since late April

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday, recording their first weekly gain in five and their biggest since late April, as a weaker local currency spurred buying interest for the ringgit-denominated palm feedstock.
    The Malaysian ringgit was at 3.2090 per dollar
after having slid 1.1 percent this week, as caution mounted
ahead of the U.S. jobs data, making margins more attractive for
overseas investors and refiners. 
    "Today the prices followed the further weakness in the
ringgit," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in
Malaysia. 
    Palm prices also faced a bout of technical correction,
traders said. 
    "For the past 2-3 times, whenever prices went to the 2,250
ringgit level, the market was unable to close below that level
and always bounced back. So now, technically, prices are
bouncing back to test the 2,290-2,295 ringgit level," the trader
added.  
    The benchmark October contract on the Bursa
Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had inched up 1.2 percent to 2,283
ringgit ($711) per tonne by Friday's close, gaining 0.8 percent
this week.
    Total traded volume stood at 44,186 lots of 25 tonnes, above
 the usual 35,000 lots.  
    Technicals showed that Malaysian palm oil is expected to
test a resistance at 2,298 ringgit per tonne, a break above
which will lead to a further gain to 2,328 ringgit, according to
Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.   
     
          
    But a dip in global demand towards the end of July, after a
strong surge in overseas sales earlier in the month, crimped
gains and made investors cautious of bigger inventories in the
world's No.2 producer.
    Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services put shipments of
Malaysian palm oil products 2.8 percent lower in July than in
June, due to smaller purchases from China. 
    "We had anticipated exports to be higher in July," the
Malaysia-based trader added. "Because of the fall in exports,
stocks may be higher than what the market had expected." 
    Stocks in Malaysia stood at 1.66 million tonnes at end-June.
    Another cargo surveyor will release data for the same period
on Monday.     
    In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract
 shed 0.3 percent in late Asian trade, while the most
active soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities
Exchange fell 0.7 percent.     
    In other markets, Brent crude oil fell below $106 a barrel
as oversupply in the Atlantic basin and low demand outweighed
worries over political tensions in the Middle East, North Africa
and Ukraine. 
 
  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT
                                                                                                                                          
  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      AUG4    2350   +22.00    2332    2351      76
  MY PALM OIL      SEP4    2316   +33.00    2285    2317    3305
  MY PALM OIL      OCT4    2283   +26.00    2261    2287   21290
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN5    5656    +0.00    5636    5660  295872
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN5    6416   -42.00    6414    6472  225496
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC4   36.29    -0.11   36.22   36.48    3005
  NYMEX CRUDE      SEP4   97.21    -0.96   97.15   98.10   26432
                                                                                                                                          
  Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
  CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
  Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
  Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
 - Reuters