07/07/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures eased from a fresh five-week high on Friday as some traders booked profits from an overbought market, although expectations of strong demand curbed losses.

Palm oil posted a 3.6 percent gain this week, thanks to the hot and dry weather in the U.S. that has damaged soybean crops.

The prospects of limited soyoil supply could shift demand to palm oil that has been the target of last-minute buying ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan starting in end-July.

"The uptrend is definitely still intact with traders speculating on the adverse weather and generally lower end-stock," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

Benchmark September palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1.1 percent to close at 3,133 ringgit ($988) per tonne. Prices earlier touched a high of 3,183 ringgit, a level unseen since May 29.

Traded volumes stood at 26,272 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

On the technicals front, palm oil is expected to end the current rebound around resistance at 3,193 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

The market is on the lookout for a slew of data to be released next week to gauge the demand and supply trend for palm oil.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance will issue Malaysia's exports data for the first 10 days of July on Tuesday. Industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will issue official data on stocks and output for June on the same day.

Exports rose in June to close to 1.45 million tonnes, the highest so far this year, riding on higher demand from India, Pakistan and the Middle East.

Higher exports and domestic demand could pile further pressure on Malaysia's stocks, which most probably dropped to a 14-month low in June, according to a Reuters median survey.

Oil fell below $100 a barrel on Friday on expectations the Norwegian government would end an oil workers' strike and as enthusiasm over central bank rate cuts waned.

In other vegetable oils markets, U.S. soyoil for July delivery lost 1.6 percent as trade resumed after the Independence Day holiday. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract on the Dalian commodity exchange ended flat after touching a new high last seen on May 11.    

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      JUL2    3115   -19.00    3115    3115      51
  MY PALM OIL      AUG2    3110   -40.00    3110    3166     346
  MY PALM OIL      SEP2    3130   -34.00    3125    3183   16011
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3    8212    +0.00    8206    8306  343816
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN3    9756    +0.00    9744    9848  561496
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   54.30    -0.83   54.22   55.19   10284
  NYMEX CRUDE      AUG2   85.64    -1.58   85.62   87.13   25071

  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=3.17 Malaysian ringgit)