JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Thursday, with prices range-bound as many traders sat on their hands as they awaited fresh impetus and direction in a lacklustre market with thin volumes.
"The market has hardly moved - just a few points," said a trader with a
foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. "There needs to be a driver for
the market to go outside 10 points."
By day's close, the benchmark June contract on Bursa Malaysia
Derivatives was up 0.65 percent at 2,168 ringgit ($591) a tonne. Prices continue
to trade near two-week lows and earlier touched 2,150 ringgit.
Total traded volume stood at 26,167 lots of 25 tonnes, well below the
average 35,000 lots.
Technical charts show palm oil is poised to break support at 2,146 ringgit
per tonne and drop further to 2,106 ringgit, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao
said.
"The market is holding," said a second trader with a foreign commodities
brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. "Without any bullish or bearish news it is
range-bound."
"We're waiting for new leads," he said, adding that Malaysia's first 10 days
export figures due next week may provide stronger direction.
In comparative vegetable oils, the U.S. soyoil May contract edged up
0.1 percent, while the most active September soybean oil contract on
the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.56 percent.
Oil prices slipped on Thursday as officials from the big global powers
remained locked in nuclear talks with Iran that, if successful, could allow the
Islamic state to release more crude oil onto world markets.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1049 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAY5 2173 +12.00 2157 2176 2018
MY PALM OIL JUN5 2168 +12.00 2150 2172 15223
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP5 4670 +12.00 4612 4688 572444
CHINA SOYOIL SEP5 5394 +30.00 5336 5428 606874
CBOT SOY OIL MAY5 30.71 +0.00 30.60 30.86 5434
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
($1 = 3.6690 ringgit)
($1 = 6.1968 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 62.2000 Indian rupees)
- Reuters
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