JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures looks for direction on Monday as market participants awaited new leads, while a report of weak exports data weighed the contract.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was trading between RM19 above and RM20 below its Friday close of RM3,851, and was last down 0.23 per cent at RM3,844 (US$805.03) per metric ton at 0312 GMT. The contract gained 1.1 per cent last week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 0.11 per cent, while its palm oil contract were up 0.47 per cent. Meanwhile, soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.31 per cent.
* Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share of the global vegetable oils market.
* Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-25 fell 10.7 per cent to 951,409 metric tons from 1,064,778 metric tons shipped during January 1-25, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.
* Oil prices fell in early Asian trading on Monday, extending losses from the previous session after oil ended the week 2-3 per cent lower amid market concerns that higher-than-expected inflation could delay U.S. interest rate cuts.
* Palm oil is biased to retest support of RM3,813 per metric ton, with a good chance of breaking below this level and falling towards RM3,789.
MARKET NEWS
* Asian shares stalled near seven-month highs on Monday as investors awaited inflation data from the United States, Japan and Europe that will help refine expectations for future rate moves. - Reuters