21/11/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged lower on Tuesday, as investors booked profits after the contract hit a more than two week high earlier in the day and as export demand continued to show signs of slowing.     

The world's No.2 palm producer exported 1.02 million tonnes of palm products for Nov. 1-20, down 3.3 percent from 1.06 million tonnes a month ago, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Tuesday.

Market players were hoping for higher exports to ease record stocks, which hit 2.51 million tonnes in October. Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance will release its export data later in the day.

"Traders were pretty hopeful for positive export data, although this decline is not really that significant," said Ker Chung Yang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"Market participants are also anxious as they wait for the outcome of the European financial meeting," he added, referring to a gathering later on Tuesday where euro zone finance ministers are expected to give a tentative go-ahead for the disbursement of 44 billion euros in emergency loans to Greece.

The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 0.1 percent to close at 2,457 ringgit ($803) per tonne. Prices earlier touched 2,485 ringgit, the highest since Nov. 2.

Total traded volumes stood at 38,893 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.   

Technicals showed a bullish palm oil target of 2,588 ringgit had been aborted, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Singapore commodities trader Olam International Ltd defended its accounting practices after attacks by short-seller Muddy Waters which media reports said questioned the way it keeps its books, sending its shares tumbling as much as 11 percent in heavy volume.

In related markets, Brent crude slipped towards $111 a barrel on Tuesday as ample supplies outweighed worries over fighting between Israel and Palestinians in the Middle East.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery edged 0.2 percent higher in late Asian trade. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.7 percent higher.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1007 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      DEC2    2369   -17.00    2353    2401     843
  MY PALM OIL      JAN3    2426    -4.00    2404    2452    7048
  MY PALM OIL      FEB3    2457    -2.00    2434    2485   16000
  CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY3    6756    +6.00    6710    6816  698888
  CHINA SOYOIL     MAY3    8496   +58.00    8428    8508  813062
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   47.96    +0.07   47.70   48.06    8508
  NYMEX CRUDE      JAN3   88.79    -0.49   88.53   89.19   20062

  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=3.06 ringgit)