29/06/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures slipped on Thursday to their lowest level this week, as investors awaited the outcome of a European leaders' summit that is unlikely to produce concrete measures to solve the region's debt crisis.

But traders said the hot and dry weather in the United States that tightened the supply of soybeans has provided support for palm oil prices.

Investors are also awaiting a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday to gauge stocks and production trends of soybeans.

"Prices are juxtaposed between the positive vibes of U.S. weather and negative news from Europe. Market players are awaiting Friday's USDA numbers before adding on more exposure," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia.  

Benchmark September palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 0.6 percent to close at 2,998 ringgit ($939) per tonne. Traded volumes were thin at 21,457 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 25,000 lots.

EU leaders will start a two-day meeting in Brussels on Thursday, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel pitting herself against France and Italy, insisting that they put the bloc's fundamental problems ahead of pleas for emergency action.

On the local front, palm oil demand remains resilient with Malaysian exports rising for the first 25 days of the month from a month ago. Traders expect last-minute buying to support demand ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan that starts at the end  of July. 

Shares of Malaysian palm oil firm Felda Global  surged 20 percent in its much-anticipated trading debut on Thursday, as investors cheered the world's second largest IPO after Facebook's botched float.

Brent crude slipped below $93 per barrel on Thursday as worries a deepening euro zone crisis would curb economic growth and energy demand outweighed a cut in Norwegian oil output.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for July delivery lost 0.4 percent in late Asian trade. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract on Dalian commodity exchange slipped 0.1 percent.  

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1007 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      JUL2    2986   -17.00    2969    2990     303
  MY PALM OIL      AUG2    2991   -20.00    2972    3019    1302
  MY PALM OIL      SEP2    2998   -18.00    2978    3026   14219
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3    7952   -40.00    7944    8042  238152
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN3    9472   -10.00    9452    9548  512244
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   52.03    -0.17   51.85   52.36    6461
  NYMEX CRUDE      AUG2   79.92    -0.29   79.75   80.70   20795

  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=3.194 Malaysian ringgit