JAKARTA, April 24 : Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday and posted their first weekly gain in three weeks, as higher crude oil and a weaker ringgit lend support.
Softer rival edible oils on the Dalian exchange on Friday, however, capped the session’s gains.
The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 16 ringgit, or 0.35 per cent, to $1,159.77 ($1,157.68) a metric ton by closing time.
The contract gained 3.28 per cent for the week.
Oil prices rose on Friday and over the week due to fears of a renewed military escalation in the Middle East.
Higher crude oil prices make palm oil more attractive as an alternative source of fuel.
“Since the start of the U.S. attack on Iran, our CPO futures are heavily influenced by crude prices, and as stated by the MPOC, the CPO futures will be supported until the war ends,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.
Stronger biodiesel economics, elevated crude oil prices and potential El Niño weather developments are expected to help crude palm oil prices stay above 4,500 ringgit per ton in the near term, the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) said on Friday.
The ringgit, the palm’s currency of trade, eased for a third day against the dollar on Friday, making the commodity cheaper for buyers holding foreign currencies.
Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract dropped 1.04 per cent, while its palm oil contract fell 0.37 per cent. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.53 per cent.
Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.
On the technical front, palm oil is expected to fall into a narrow range of 4,517-4,531 ringgit per ton, as it failed to break a resistance at 4,639 ringgit, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
($1 = 3.9620 ringgit)
(Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Harikrishnan Nair and Shailesh Kuber)