31/08/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures inched up on Thursday, recovering from a near 2-week low hit the previous day although traders were cautious ahead of a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday.

Investors are looking to the speech for any hint on further U.S. stimulus that could boost sentiment and support demand for risky assets such as palm oil, which has lost around 5 percent so far this year.

The edible oil has posted two straight weeks of gains as the worst drought in over half a century damaged soybean crops in the U.S. Midwest, hurting soybean oil supply and shifting more vegetable oil demand to the cheaper palm oil.

"The rise in palm oil for the past week or two was mainly on borrowed strength from soy, and if soy seems to be running out of steam, palm is going to follow," said a trader with a foreign commodity brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.

At closing, the benchmark November 2012 contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 0.7 percent to 3,019 ringgit ($967) per tonne. Prices hit 2,978 ringgit on Wednesday, the lowest level since Aug. 17.

Total traded volume stood at 42,592 lots of 25 tonnes each, much higher than the usual 25,000 lots as traders adjusted their positions.

Palm oil may end its current rebound from 2,978 ringgit in a resistance zone of 3,050-3,067 ringgit and drop back to 2,978 ringgit, said Reuters analyst Wang Tao.

On top of bearish technicals, traders are also taking into account prospects of higher palm oil stock levels in August that could weigh on futures prices.

But the market will be looking out for export numbers for the full month as resilient demand could help ease stock growth.

Exports rose as much as 6.6 percent for the first 25 days of August from a month earlier on higher demand from major food buyers India and China, cargo surveyor data showed.

Brent crude edged up above $113 barrel on Thursday ahead of a meeting of central bankers later this week that will be scoured for clues on measures to boost global economic growth, while a potential strike by Norwegian oil workers also supported prices.

In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for December delivery slipped 0.4 percent by 1004 GMT. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract  on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 1.3 percent higher.    

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      SEP2    2925   +10.00    2900    2935     850
  MY PALM OIL      OCT2    2969    +1.00    2952    3028    2568
  MY PALM OIL      NOV2    3019   +19.00    3000    3033   21501
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3    8196   +52.00    8132    8232  258272
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN3   10078  +130.00    9980   10090  510830
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   57.10    -0.20   56.95   57.47    8589
  NYMEX CRUDE      OCT2   95.32    -0.17   94.91   95.44   12957

  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 = 3.123 ringgit)