27/05/2017 (The Star Online) - KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures recorded their sharpest daily decline in nearly two weeks on Friday evening, charting a third session of falls in four, weighed down by weakness in related oils and a stronger ringgit, palm's currency of trade. 

    Palm oil, as well as related vegetable oils such as soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade and China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, tracked losses in the crude oil market because they are used as feedstock for biodiesel, a fuel alternative to crude.

    The price of crude oil had plunged the previous day after output cuts agreed at Thursday's OPEC meeting were less than expected.

    The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery  on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 2 percent to 2,555 ringgit ($598.78) a tonne by the close. 

    Palm is down 1.1 percent for the week, its sharpest weekly drop since April 14.

    Traded volumes stood at 34,661 lots of 25 tonnes each on Friday evening.

    "Dalian and the Chicago Board of Trade influenced trade today," a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said, referring to soyoil's weaker performance on both exchanges. Another trader said that the stronger ringgit also weighed.      

    The ringgit gained 0.2 percent against the dollar on Friday evening, having earlier touched its highest in more than six months at 4.2660. A strong ringgit usually makes palm oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies. 

    Palm oil is expected to re-test a support at 2,567 ringgit a tonne, a break below which could cause a further loss to the next support at 2,539 ringgit, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.

    Soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped as much as 0.3 percent, while the September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell by up to 1.8 percent.

    The September contract for palm olein shed as much as 1.3 percent. - Reuetrs