8/18/04 (Oilmandi) - Malaysian crude palm oil rose on Tuesday asspeculators returned to lift the market from lows caused by a drop inprices of rival Chicago soya oil. The benchmark third-month palm oilcontract on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, November, closed up 16ringgit at the day’s high of 1,477 ringgit ($388.68) a tonne.

Traders said speculators pushed the market up in late trade to generatemomentum in the hope of grabbing profits later. But some warned thepattern, seen for several days, could not last.

Soya oil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) closed 0.2 to 0.5cent a pound lower on Monday as weather forecasts pointed to better cropprospects for US soyabeans.

Soya and palm compete for the same export markets and their prices oftenmove in step.

Traders pegged immediate support for the contract at 1,450 ringgit andresistance at 1,500. Physical crude palm oil also rebounded from middaylows, although they closed slightly lower from Monday.

Meanwhile, Groundnut oil bounced back on the Mumbai oils and oilseedsmarket on Tuesday due to fresh demand in the face of poor supply fromproducing regions.

In the edible section, groundnut oil shot up by Rs 7 to close at Rs 512 onrenewed buying spree. However, imported RBD palmolein continued to movenarrowly and held steady at Rs 418.

In the futures market, castorseed September delivery contract opened lowerat Rs 1942, but recovered marginally to Rs 1946. Later, it lost supportand declined to close at Rs 1,932, showing a fresh fall of Rs 18 over theprevious close of Rs 1,950.