Malaysian palm oil : Rose by the most in a week on Thursday, narrowing the gap with US soybean oil after a recent gain, while higher crude oil also provided support.
The underlying palm oils contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysian Derivatives Exchange rose 2.84% to RM4,238 ($899.79) a tonne by noon, posting its biggest gain since October 18.
“The market is growing because of CBOT soybean oil. The price gap between FCPO and CBOT is too big, so the market is closing the gap now,” a trader from Kuala Lumpur said, .
Soybean oil prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange traded up 0.38% on Thursday during the Asian session. Meanwhile, Dalian’s most active soybean oil contracts fell 0.82%, while palm oils contracts rose 0.41%,.
Palm oils is affected by price fluctuations in related oils as they compete for share in the global vegetable oil market.
Oil prices edged up, extending more than 3% in the previous session, helped by record U.S. crude oil exports and a weaker US dollar, although gains were capped in Asia on continued worries about sluggish demand in China.
Higher crude oil prices make palm oil more attractive as an alternative fuel.
Palm oils could retest support at RM4114/tonne, a break lower could open the way to a RM4001-4071 range, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said
