Palm oil rises to seven-week top on weaker ringgit

The benchmark palm oil contract for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 1 percent at 2,563 ringgit a tonne at the end of the trading day, a second straight session of declines. Earlier in the session, the contract fell as much as 1.7 percent to 2,544 ringgit, its lowest since July 24.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose to a seven-week high in trade on Wednesday evening, extending gains into a fourth session, on support from a weaker ringgit.

Weakness in the ringgit, palm's currency of trade, usually makes the tropical oil cheaper for foreign buyers. The Malaysian currency fell 0.2 percent against the dollar to 3.9150 on Wednesday evening, after hitting to its weakest in two weeks earlier in the day.