03/11/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged down on Friday to a two-week low, as investors remained cautious on market expectations of record high stocks in October.

Prices were earlier locked in a tight range as traders looked for fresh trading cues, although bearish sentiment seemed to dominate despite strong export numbers that could help ease stocks.

"The market is still stuck within a range and finding direction," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "End stocks in October are going to hit higher, around 2.63-2.65 million tonnes. With record-high stocks, the market can't be bullish."

The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 1.6 percent to close at  2,496 ringgit ($818) per tonne, after going as low as 2,490 ringgit, a level last seen on Oct. 18.

Total traded volumes stood at 25,866 lots of 25 tonnes each, a tad higher than the usual 25,000 lots.   

For the week, the edible oil posted a 4.1 percent loss as prices came under pressure on lower November taxes in top producer Indonesia and as Sandy, one of the worst storms to hit the United States in years, triggered fears of slower commodity demand.

Technicals showed palm oil will retest a support at 2,497 ringgit per tonne, with a good chance of breaking it and falling to 2,469 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Malaysian October palm oil exports surged to 1.6 million tonnes, the highest so far this year, thanks to significantly stronger European demand.

But concerns remained that stocks could still climb above an all-time high of 2.48 million tonnes in September on seasonally high output. The industry regulator, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, will release official data for October inventory levels on Nov. 12.

Brent crude held steady near $108 a barrel on Friday as investors look ahead to key jobs data from the United States for more signs of economic recovery, which would boost fuel demand.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery slipped 1.1 percent in late Asian trade. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange also fell, closing 2.2 percent lower.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1009 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      NOV2    2370   -34.00    2365    2404     131
  MY PALM OIL      DEC2    2427   -40.00    2418    2465    1597
  MY PALM OIL      JAN3    2496   -41.00    2490    2533   13082
  CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY3    6962  -110.00    6936    7092  577100
  CHINA SOYOIL     MAY3    8880  -222.00    8872    9110 1066320
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   49.86    -0.57   49.67   50.63   13444
  NYMEX CRUDE      DEC2   86.35    -0.74   86.18   87.05   25029

  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 = 3.05 ringgit)