Signs of recovery seen for CPO

At Monday's close, the benchmark palm oil contract for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 3.9 percent at 1,965 ringgit ($469.42) a tonne. That was its biggest one-day dip since Feb. 16 last year. Traded volumes stood at 53,531 lots of 25 tonnes each.

PETALING JAYA: The plantation sector looks to be more positive in the first quarter of 2019 (Q1’19), with signs of a sharp recovery in crude palm oil (CPO) prices, said Kenanga Research.

The three key positive factors to be monitored closely are easing trade tensions between the US and China, higher exports of Indonesian CPO to the European Union (EU), as well as falling stockpiles in both Malaysia and Indonesia.