VEGOILS-Palm hits over one-week low on overnight soyoil fall
Reuters (19/02/2018) - * Palm falls to 2,485 rgt/T in early trade
* Stronger ringgit could further weigh on the market -Trader
* Palm remains neutral in 2,486-2,518 rgt/T range -Technicals
By Emily Chow
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell to a one-week low in early trade on Monday, in line for a third session of declines in four, tracking overnight losses in U.S. soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).
A stronger ringgit, palm's traded currency, could also further weigh on the market, said traders. Appreciation in the ringgit usually makes palm oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies.
The ringgit edged up 0.1 percent to 3.8860 against the dollar around noon.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.4 percent at 2,496 ringgit ($642.31) a tonne at noon. It earlier fell to 2,485 ringgit, its lowest level since Feb. 9.
Palm had hit a near one-month high last Monday, but was down 0.2 percent on a weekly basis last week.
Trading volumes stood at 10,139 lots of 25 tonnes each. "Palm oil fell on Friday's weakness in rival oilseed," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader, referring to losses on U.S. soyoil last Friday.
"Lingering strength in the ringgit may further drag on palm."
Palm oil prices are impacted by other rival edible oils at they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. The March soybean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.5 percent on Friday, but is closed on Monday for a national holiday.
China's Dalian Commodity Exchange also remains closed for the Lunar New Year celebrations before resuming trading on Thursday.
Palm oil looks neutral in a narrow range of 2,486-2,518 ringgit per tonne, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices as of 0508 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAR8 2506 -12.00 2496 2506 380
MY PALM OIL APR8 2500 -8.00 2485 2500 3219
MY PALM OIL MAY8 2496 -10.00 2485 2500 4881
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY8 0 +0.00 0 0 0
CHINA SOYOIL MAY8 0 +0.00 0 0 0
CBOT SOY OIL MAY8 31.73 +0.00 0 0 0
INDIA PALM OIL FEB8 577.80 +1.20 577.00 580 92
INDIA SOYOIL FEB8 736 +0.00 736 736 50
NYMEX CRUDE MAR8 62.45 +0.77 61.63 62.54 3494
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
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.8860 ringgit)
($1 = 64.2400 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.3438 Chinese yuan)