03.03.2021 (www.todayonline.com) - KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 - Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Wednesday for a fourth straight session, pressured by expectations of higher stockpile for end-February as exports dropped over the month.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 20 ringgit, or 0.55%, to 3,622 ringgit ($894.54) a tonne in early trade.

"Malaysia's palm oil stocks likely grew 7.6% month-on-month to 1.43 million tonnes at end-February due to a slower decline in production compared to exports," Ivy Ng, regional head of plantations research at CGS-CIMB Research, said in a note.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Dalian's most-active soyoil contract fell 0.5%, while its palm oil contract were down 1.7%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade declined 0.2%.

* Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

* Palm oil still targets a range of 3,466 ringgit to 3,545 ringgit per tonne, as it has completed a rally from the Jan. 20 low of 3,160 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.

MARKET NEWS

* Asian shares edged higher as investors shrugged off concerns that stocks may have rallied too far too fast in the past year, and focused instead on optimism that more imminent U.S. stimulus will energise the global economic recovery.

DATA/EVENTS

0700 UK Reserve Assets Total Feb

0850 France Markit Serv, Comp PMIs Feb

0855 Germany Markit Serv PMI Feb

0855 Germany Markit Comp Final PMI Feb

0900 EU Markit Serv, Comp Final PMIs Feb

1445 US Markit Serv, Comp Final PMIs Feb

1500 US ISM N-Mfg PMI Feb

1900 US Federal Reserve issues the Beige

Book of economic condition ($1 = 4.0490 ringgit) REUTERS