28/06/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures edged down on Wednesday as investors bet a summit of European leaders later this week is unlikely to resolve the region's lingering debt crisis soon.

Losses were limited in a quiet trading session, as hot and dry weather in the United States crimped the soybean crop, fuelling expectations of tighter oilseed supply that may eventually lift palm oil prices.

"There's no new lead in terms of local sentiment, that's why the market is locked in a range of 3,000 to 3,050 ringgit. Immediate support is at 3,000 ringgit," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

"The weather is going to have a strong influence on the palm oil market in the near term. Palm oil is supported by the dry weather in the U.S. especially because it's the planting season."

Benchmark September palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 0.2 percent to close at 3,025 ringgit ($948) per tonne, after trading in the 3,004-3,043 ringgit range.

Traded volumes were thin at 17,235 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared with the usual 25,000 lots as traders were looking for further cues to enter the market.

On the technicals front, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao posted a bearish quarterly outlook, saying palm oil could fall to 2,390 ringgit over the next three months.

Demand remains healthy with Malaysian palm oil exports showing an uptrend for the first 25 days of the month. Traders expect the trend to continue on last-minute buying leading up to the Muslim fasting month starting in end-July.

Palm oil's steep discount to soybean oil also provided an upside for prices, especially as the drought in the U.S. Midwest threatened to limit the oilseed supply further.

Traders are also watching the U.S. Department of Agriculture's June acreage report for soybeans on Friday.

Brent crude oil fell on Wednesday on mounting concerns that European leaders would fail to solve the region's intractable debt crisis at a key meeting this week, offsetting tighter North Sea oil supply.  

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for July  delivery inched up 0.3 percent in late Asian trade. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract on Dalian commodity exchange closed 0.1 percent lower.     

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1002 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      JUL2    2995   -20.00    2995    3028     103
  MY PALM OIL      AUG2    3011   -12.00    2999    3033     968
  MY PALM OIL      SEP2    3016   -16.00    3004    3043   10138
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3    8002    -6.00    7950    8026  330608
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN3    9500    -8.00    9442    9526  578046
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   51.93    +0.15   51.56   52.09    4381
  NYMEX CRUDE      AUG2   78.99    -0.37   78.68   79.63   22244

  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=3.193 Malaysian ringgit)