23/06/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures inched down on Friday, as investors took a more cautious stance on weak economic data from the United States and China, worrying that slowing global growth could hurt commodity demand.

U.S. factory growth registered its slowest pace in 11 months in June and Chinese manufacturing contracted for an eighth month running. Shrinking business activity across the euro zone and a downgrade to the credit ratings of 15 of the world's biggest banks by ratings agency Moody's also added to the gloom.

But palm oil still ended the week 3.7 percent higher on earlier rallies this week as dry weather in the U.S. threatened to tighten global oilseed supplies.

"We are seeing a tug of war. On one hand we have good fundamentals, on the other hand we have macroeconomic factors that are a bit bearish," said James Ratnam, an analyst with TA Securities in Malaysia.

"Festive demand is still quite strong but traders are worried that if the economy gets really bad, demand will suffer eventually."

Benchmark September palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1.6 percent to close at 2,953 ringgit ($928) per tonne. Prices rose as high as 3,062 ringgit on Thursday, a level unseen since June 1.

Traded volumes stood at 26,845 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly higher than the usual 25,000 lots on position squaring ahead of the weekend.

On the technicals front, palm oil will drop to 2,924 ringgit, as a rebound from its low of 2,838 ringgit has been completed, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.

Malaysian palm oil exports grew 15 percent in the first 20 days of the month from a month ago, said cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance, backed by last-minute buying from India and Pakistan ahead of the fasting month beginning in late July.

In related news, commodities trader Louis Dreyfus is buying a smaller-than-anticipated slice of Malaysian palm oil firm Felda Global Ventures Holding's $3.1 billion IPO, but sealed a deal to market the company's palm oil.

Oil rebounded above $90 a barrel on Friday after hitting an 18-month low but remained on course for its biggest weekly loss in about a year as reports suggesting slowing economic growth around the globe signalled weaker demand.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for July  delivery lost a slight 0.1 percent. The Dalian commodity exchange is closed for a public holiday and will resume trading, on Monday.    

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1005 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      JUL2    2926   -58.00    2920    2950     570
  MY PALM OIL      AUG2    2944   -52.00    2926    2961    2046
  MY PALM OIL      SEP2    2953   -47.00    2932    2970   16963
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3    7946   -14.00    7882    7980  361144
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN3    9440   -14.00    9396    9474  527894
  CBOT SOY OIL     JUL2   49.77    -0.04   49.31   50.09    7346
  NYMEX CRUDE      AUG2   78.66    +0.46   77.56   79.01   38748

  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=3.188 Malaysian ringgit)