MARKET DEVELOPMENT
VEGOILS-Palm Ends Three-day Losing Streak on Technical Rebound
VEGOILS-Palm Ends Three-day Losing Streak on Technical Rebound
(Recasts, updates prices)
* Palm bounces off two-week low as contract oversold
* Oil below $60 as OPEC, Russia keep pumping
* Palm oil to fall to 2,085 ringgit - technicals
18/12/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended a three-day losing streak on Wednesday on a technical rebound although persistent weakness in crude oil capped the gains, with investors nervous that a financial crisis in Russia may curb appetite for commodities.
Brent crude oil traded below $60 a barrel, near 5-1/2-year lows, as major oil producers signalled they would maintain output despite a supply glut and faltering demand in Russia and Europe.
Crude prices, which determine palm oil's usability in biofuels, have skidded in recent weeks after OPEC resisted cutting output in an oversupplied market. Key producer Russia also indicated it would keep output steady.
Benchmark palm prices fell to a two-week low of 2,103 ringgit in intraday trade, triggering the technical correction, traders said.
"It's got nothing to do with fundamentals - prices simply rebounded from the extremely oversold chart," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"There's a high chance for the contract to next test and break the crucial support level of 2,080-2,100 ringgit if crude and soybean oil stay at current levels or continue to fall."
The benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 0.5 percent at 2,127 ringgit ($611) per tonne, reversing morning losses.
Total traded volume stood at 51,932 lots of 25 tonnes, above the usual 35,000 lots.
Technical charts show palm oil is expected to fall to 2,085 ringgit as it has broken support at 2,116 ringgit, according to Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
A second Malaysia-based trader said worries of a global meltdown across commodities, which may trigger more selloffs in crude oil, were dampening fresh interest for the tropical oil.
"Sentiment is still fragile albeit lower output and better-than-expected demand," the trader said.
Fears over the Russian crisis and oil's continued slide pushed investors to seek safety on Wednesday, buying core bonds and selling stocks while the rouble failed to halt its prolonged tumble.
In competing vegetable oil markets, the most-active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange shed 0.3 percent in late Asian trade, while the U.S. soyoil contract for January was nearly flat.
The soybean market is being weighed down by expectations of record production in Brazil. Abundant global stocks of the rival oilseed for crushing could channel demand away from palm oil.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1029 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JAN5 2123 +10.00 2098 2125 274
MY PALM OIL FEB5 2122 +2.00 2102 2130 8219
MY PALM OIL MAR5 2127 +6.00 2103 2136 27230
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY5 4940 -48.00 4920 4976 698988
CHINA SOYOIL MAY5 5622 -16.00 5594 5648 248728
CBOT SOY OIL JAN5 31.82 -2.60 31.69 31.96 6485
INDIA PALM OIL DEC4 414.30 -2.60 413.00 416.60 375
INDIA SOYOIL DEC4 581.00 -1.20 580.00 582.00 2050
NYMEX CRUDE JAN5 55.04 -0.89 54.61 55.97 32590
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
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.482 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.1975 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.54 Indian rupee)
* Palm bounces off two-week low as contract oversold
* Oil below $60 as OPEC, Russia keep pumping
* Palm oil to fall to 2,085 ringgit - technicals
18/12/2014 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended a three-day losing streak on Wednesday on a technical rebound although persistent weakness in crude oil capped the gains, with investors nervous that a financial crisis in Russia may curb appetite for commodities.
Brent crude oil traded below $60 a barrel, near 5-1/2-year lows, as major oil producers signalled they would maintain output despite a supply glut and faltering demand in Russia and Europe.
Crude prices, which determine palm oil's usability in biofuels, have skidded in recent weeks after OPEC resisted cutting output in an oversupplied market. Key producer Russia also indicated it would keep output steady.
Benchmark palm prices fell to a two-week low of 2,103 ringgit in intraday trade, triggering the technical correction, traders said.
"It's got nothing to do with fundamentals - prices simply rebounded from the extremely oversold chart," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"There's a high chance for the contract to next test and break the crucial support level of 2,080-2,100 ringgit if crude and soybean oil stay at current levels or continue to fall."
The benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 0.5 percent at 2,127 ringgit ($611) per tonne, reversing morning losses.
Total traded volume stood at 51,932 lots of 25 tonnes, above the usual 35,000 lots.
Technical charts show palm oil is expected to fall to 2,085 ringgit as it has broken support at 2,116 ringgit, according to Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
A second Malaysia-based trader said worries of a global meltdown across commodities, which may trigger more selloffs in crude oil, were dampening fresh interest for the tropical oil.
"Sentiment is still fragile albeit lower output and better-than-expected demand," the trader said.
Fears over the Russian crisis and oil's continued slide pushed investors to seek safety on Wednesday, buying core bonds and selling stocks while the rouble failed to halt its prolonged tumble.
In competing vegetable oil markets, the most-active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange shed 0.3 percent in late Asian trade, while the U.S. soyoil contract for January was nearly flat.
The soybean market is being weighed down by expectations of record production in Brazil. Abundant global stocks of the rival oilseed for crushing could channel demand away from palm oil.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1029 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JAN5 2123 +10.00 2098 2125 274
MY PALM OIL FEB5 2122 +2.00 2102 2130 8219
MY PALM OIL MAR5 2127 +6.00 2103 2136 27230
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY5 4940 -48.00 4920 4976 698988
CHINA SOYOIL MAY5 5622 -16.00 5594 5648 248728
CBOT SOY OIL JAN5 31.82 -2.60 31.69 31.96 6485
INDIA PALM OIL DEC4 414.30 -2.60 413.00 416.60 375
INDIA SOYOIL DEC4 581.00 -1.20 580.00 582.00 2050
NYMEX CRUDE JAN5 55.04 -0.89 54.61 55.97 32590
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
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.482 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.1975 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.54 Indian rupee)