05/05/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower on Friday, touching a six-week low at 3,335 ringgit, the steepest weekly loss since November, as investors remain worried about the health of the global economy.

Global investors are keeping a close watch on U.S. jobs data, due to be released at 1230 GMT, to help them gauge the outlook for the global economy and commodity demand.

"Fundamental strengths are being ignored. This is a technical speculative sell down. Besides, uncertainties surrounding elections in Europe over the weekend dampened any huge position holding," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. 

Benchmark July palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.6 percent to close at 3,358 ringgit ($1,115) per tonne. The contract ended the week with a 4.2 percent loss, its worst performance since November 2011.

"Price corrections are taking place here but I see it as healthy because the market has been going up too fast. It will probably be over soon as demand is still strong. If next week's MPOB (Malaysian Palm Oil Board) and exports data continue to be supportive, the market will rebound pretty quickly," said another trader with a local commodites brokerage in Malaysia.

Traded volumes stood at 31,440 lots of 25 tonnes each, much higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

Palm oil will fall to 3,325 ringgit per tonne, a break below which will open the way towards 3,253 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao based on technical analysis.

On the fundamentals side, palm oil demand remains healthy as indicated by cargo surveyor data. April exports jumped by 9.4 and 10.4 percent from a month ago, according to Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance respectively.

Demand from major importers China, India and Europe picked up, helping to push up shipments of the edible oil.

Traders are now watching output numbers in No.2 producer Malaysia for more clues on April palm oil stock levels. Higher demand and a lower output will eat into palm oil stocks, which fell below 2 million tonnes in March, and push up palm oil prices.

Industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board will issue official data on output and stocks next week.

Oil slipped under $116 per barrel on Friday, ahead of a U.S. payrolls report, and was poised for its steepest weekly fall since December due to concerns over the health of the global economy and easing fears over supply disruption.

In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for July gained 0.3 percent in Asian trade while the most active Dalian soyoil September contract  slipped 0.3 percent.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1002 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      MAY2    3385    +0.00    3375    3405    1105
  MY PALM OIL      JUN2    3366   -21.00    3345    3404    2320
  MY PALM OIL      JUL2    3358   -19.00    3335    3395   19458
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2    8650   -22.00    8596    8652  104284
  CHINA SOYOIL     SEP2    9772   -30.00    9724    9778  342144
  CBOT SOY OIL     JUL2   54.32    +0.17   54.12   54.40    8135
  NYMEX CRUDE      JUN2  101.15    -1.39  101.13  102.72   22039

  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 = 3.04 ringgit)