10/05/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures closed lower on Wednesday as heightened political risk in Europe raised concerns about demand and deterred traders who remained sidelined ahead of a slew of industry data due to be released the following day. 

Election results in France and Greece that threatened to put euro zone austerity measures in jeopardy limited buying interest in palm oil futures, cutting gains this year to 5 percent.

Industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will issue official stocks and output numbers for April on Thursday, which market players expect to be lower than the month before. 

Benchmark July palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 0.5 percent to close at 3,335 ringgit ($1,087) per tonne.

Traded volumes stood at 23,210 lots of 25 tonnes each, thinner than the usual 25,000 lots, as investors were looking for further cues to enter the market.

"Currently it's more like a positioning ahead of the MPOB (Malaysian Palm Oil Board) data and the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) report," said Ker Chung Yang, an analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"The market is moving according to the dynamics in the macroeconomics. So after what happened in France and Greece,  there are still concerns that the measures laid out by the European Union will be overturned."

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance will issue export numbers for the first 10 days of May on Thursday. 

Exports jumped by almost 10 percent in April on strong demand from major buyers China, India and Europe. Traders will be monitoring demand trends from major food buyers for signs on restocking.

On the supply front, April stocks should continue a downtrend and stay below the psychological 2-million-tonne mark as exports ate into stocks, a Reuters median survey showed on Monday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will also be releasing its monthly planting report for soybeans on Thursday. A smaller soybean crop for crushing into competing soybean oil will be supportive for palm oil prices.

In the latest development of the upcoming $3 billion IPO of Felda Global Venture Holdings (FVGH), agribusiness giant Louis Dreyfus was asked to be a cornerstone investor in the palm oil firm, sources said.

Brent crude oil slipped towards $112 on Wednesday, on track for its longest losing streak in nearly two years, as political turmoil in the debt-laden euro zone deepened worries about prospects for fuel demand.

In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for July rose 0.1 percent while the most active Dalian soyoil September contract lost 0.2 percent.    

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      MAY2    3335   -20.00    3335    3360      30
  MY PALM OIL      JUN2    3340   -19.00    3340    3376    1272
  MY PALM OIL      JUL2    3335   -16.00    3333    3371   13716
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2    8564   -26.00    8512    8570   94146
  CHINA SOYOIL     SEP2    9692   -22.00    9638    9696  380638
  CBOT SOY OIL     JUL2   53.32    +0.05   53.20   53.55    7616
  NYMEX CRUDE      JUN2   96.31    -0.70   96.19   97.39   24200

  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
  ($1 = 3.068 ringgit)