23.05.2019 (The Edge Markets MY) - KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Malaysian palm oil futures fell more than 1% during the first half of trade on Thursday, hitting their lowest levels in a week, tracking weakness in related edible oils.

Benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was last down 1.4% at RM2,028 (US$483.78) per tonne at the midday break, in line for a second consecutive day of losses.

It earlier fell to RM2,024, its weakest level since May 15.

"The market is weighed by external market weakness, all related commodities are down," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader referring to prices of crude oil and edible oils such as soyoil.

"However, the downside may be capped by ringgit weakness."

A weaker ringgit, palm oil's traded currency, usually supports the edible oil by making it cheaper for foreign buyers. The ringgit fell to its weakest levels in nearly six months against the dollar on Thursday, and was last down 0.2% at 4.1920 around noon.

Palm oil may test a support at RM2,034 per tonne, a break below that could cause a loss to RM1,967, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.

In related edible oils, the Chicago July soybean oil contract eased 0.6% on Thursday, while the September soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 1%.

The Dalian September palm oil contract also fell 1.2%.

Palm oil prices are affected by movements in soyoil, with which it competes for global market share.

Meanwhile, oil prices dropped on Thursday, extending falls from the previous session amid surging US crude inventories and weak demand from refineries.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0446 GMT

Contract	Month	Last	Change	Low	High	Volume
MY PALM OIL	JUN9	1983	-25.00	1983	1990	50
MY PALM OIL	JUL9	2010	-31.00	2009	2024	1511
MY PALM OIL	AUG9	2028	-29.00	2024	2040	7207
CHINA PALM OLEIN	SEP9	4386	-52.00	4378	4434	292846
CHINA SOYOIL	SEP9	5372	-56.00	5364	5422	256076
CBOT SOY OIL	JUL9	27.14	-0.17	27.1	27.31	2015
INDIA PALM OIL	MAY9	512.00	-2.00	510.50	512	57
INDIA SOYOIL	JUN9	740.6	-1.05	740.25	742	820
NYMEX CRUDE	JUL9	61.03	-0.39	60.93	61.41	37690

Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in US 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 US dollars per barrel

(US$1 = RM4.1920)
(US$1 = 69.4640 Indian rupees)
(US$1 = 6.9133 Chinese yuan)