18 July 2019 (The Edge Markets MY) KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures recovered from early losses to trade slightly lower on Thursday as stronger trends in the vegetable oil market aided sentiment.

The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.2% at 1,985 ringgit ($482.85) per tonne around noon, but is up 2% so far this week.

Earlier in the session, the contract fell as much as 0.8%, tracking weakness in overnight soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).

U.S. soyoil futures on the CBOT had dropped 1.1% on Wednesday, but was last trading up 0.5%, as of 0513 GMT.

"Palm opened lower on spillover weakness from the sharp drop in rival oilseed overnight," said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader.

U.S. soybean futures had hit a nine-day low on Thursday as forecasts for cooler weather across a major growing region calmed fears that hot, dry conditions could hurt yields.

Palm oil may break a resistance at 1,984 ringgit per tonne and rise to the next resistance at 2,001 ringgit, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.

Meanwhile, the September soyoil contract on the Dalian exchange eased 0.1%, and the Dalian September palm oil also dipped 0.1%.

Palm oil prices are affected by movements in related oils that compete for a share of the global vegetable oils market. - Reuters