08/09/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell on Friday, posting their worst weekly performance since late July, with traders made cautious by the prospect that data next week could show rising inventories in the Southeast Asian country.

Improving crop prospects in parts of the U.S. grain belt weighed on soybeans, which in turn hurt palm oil futures, down more than 3 percent this week, marking its second straight weekly loss.

"Lately palm oil has been rangebound and immediate support is at 2,900 ringgit," said a trader with a global commodity house in Singapore. "Now everyone's looking for demand, only that can confirm the next firm direction for palm."

The benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.7 percent lower at 2,927 ringgit ($941) per tonne, ending down for the fourth session in a row. The contract dropped to 2,913 ringgit on Thursday, its lowest level since Aug. 16.

Total traded volume stood at 44,575 lots of 25 tonnes each, much higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

Technicals remained weak as Reuters analyst Wang Tao said that palm oil looked likely to drop to 2,867 ringgit per tonne based on a wave analysis.

Market players are focusing on a slew of data on Monday including the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's figures on August stocks, which could hit a 9-month peak as high production offsets demand growth.

Record southeast Asian palm oil stocks may weigh on prices, leading industry analyst Dorab Mistry said this week.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance also report Sept. 1-10 exports numbers on Monday after a strong showing in August. 

Weather concerns have eased a little as a weak El Nino predicted by the U.S. government forecaster provided relief to Southeast Asian planters.

In a bullish signal for palm oil, crude rose on Friday ahead of a U.S. jobs report which could strengthen the case for more economic stimulus in the world's biggest oil consumer.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery fell 0.6 percent and the most active January 2013 soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange had lost 0.5 percent by 1006 GMT.   

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      SEP2    2800   -40.00    2776    2820     658
  MY PALM OIL      OCT2    2865   -31.00    2833    2893    3295
  MY PALM OIL      NOV2    2927   -21.00    2895    2947   21333
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3    7974  -120.00    7972    8108  366050
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN3   10024   -48.00   10016   10146  529962
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   57.06    -0.32   57.00   57.65    7274
  NYMEX CRUDE      OCT2   95.88    +0.35   94.55   96.07   22060

  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=3.11 Malaysian ringgit)