23/02/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended lower on Wednesday as nervous investors booked profits after an upbeat demand outlook and stronger crude oil prices helped the edible oil scale eight-month highs earlier in the session.

Benchmark May palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange eased 0.6 percent to close at 3,250 ringgit ($1,075) per tonne. Prices had earlier hit a high of 3,294 ringgit, the highest since June 9 last year.

Traded volumes stood at 23,723 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly lower than the usual 25,000 lots.

Global markets eased slightly on Wednesday as China's manufacturing sector shrank for a fourth straight month, but crude palm oil rallied on stronger Malaysian exports. 

Prices, which are up 2.4 percent so far this year, eventually eased as the long-term risk of a messy default in Europe cast doubts on the health of the global economy and commodity demand.

"The market is at a crossroad between bullish fundamentals and bearish technicals," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

"The strength in crude oil gave additional support. However we anticipate some profit-taking to emerge before a significant rally appears," the trader added.

Reuters analyst Wang Tao said a price of 3,292 ringgit per tonne remains intact for palm oil, as it is still firm on an uptrend.

Malaysian palm oil exports from Feb. 1 to 20 eased 2 percent and 0.6 percent from a month ago, according to cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance respectively.

That indicated an improvement in demand prospects compared to a 14 percent decline for the first 15 days of the month.

Market players expect exports to pick up for the rest of the month but cautioned that the lingering euro zone debt crisis may weigh on demand. 

Concerns about demand contributed to a drop in the shares of Singapore's Wilmar International, the world's largest listed palm oil firm.

Shares fell as much as 9 percent in early trading on concerns about margins at its consumer business, despite the firm reporting a 57 percent jump in its quarterly profit. Top producer Indonesia will export more palm oil to Pakistan, with volumes expected to more than quadruple to 800,000 tonnes over the next three years, said an executive at an Indonesian industry group.

Brent crude edged down towards $121 on Wednesday, retreating from a nine-month high, as weaker Chinese manufacturing data and resurfacing worries about the euro zone debt crisis cast doubt on global economic health and prospects for fuel demand. 

The U.S. soyoil contract for March delivery lost 0.6 percent while the most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange inched up 0.1 percent.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1002 GMT
                                                                        
  Contract                     Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL              MAR2    3216   -18.00    3215    3246     318
  MY PALM OIL              APR2    3241   -19.00    3238    3281    1673
  MY PALM OIL              MAY2    3250   -18.00    3249    3294   14317
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2    8366   +26.00    8350    8394   75796
  CHINA SOYOIL          SEP2    9390    +8.00    9382    9432  308574
  CBOT SOY OIL          MAR2   53.75    -0.32   53.70   54.10    5800
  NYMEX CRUDE        APR2  105.76    -0.49  105.65  106.41   15706
                                                                        
  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
  
 * Bursa Malaysia holds its annual Palm and Lauric Oils
    Conference & Exhibition Price Outlook 2012 from March 5 to 7 in
    Kuala Lumpur. For details, see www.pocmalaysia.com 
    ($1 = 3.0190 Malaysian ringgit)