FCPO Related News (Thurs, Apr 18)

SINGAPORE, April 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell to a 4-month low on Wednesday, as investors refrained from taking risky positions after this week's rout in commodities and ahead of export data. Risky assets such as gold and crude oil rebounded slightly from massive sell-offs this week, but the price outlook remained volatile as concerns lingered over slowing global growth.

Palm oil traders are now waiting for further export numbers as stocks of the edible oil could ease further on higher shipments and weak production. Inventory levels fell to 2.17 million tonnes in March, the lowest in seven months. "Uncertainty still weighs on the market, it looks like it will be this way at least for the week," said a trader with a domestic commodities brokerage in Malaysia. The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1.1 percent to close at 2,276 ringgit ($760) per tonne. Prices fell as low as 2,269 ringgit, a level last seen on Dec. 14. Total traded volumes stood at 38,934 lots of 25 tonnes each,slightly higher than the average 35,000 lots seen so far this year.  

Technical analysis showed a bearish target at 2,249 ringgit will be confirmed as palm oil dropped below its Monday low of 2,281 ringgit, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.

Market participant will be hoping for some improvement in Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 20 days of the month. Shipments for the first half of April dropped 4 percent from a month ago, according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services. Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a steeper 7-percent fall. In other markets, Brent crude slid towards $99 per barrel on Wednesday, weighed down by the prospect of sluggish fuel demand in top consumers the United States and China and rising stockpiles of U.S. crude. In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for May delivery  fell 0.2 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange gained 0.6 percent.          [Reuters]

Today’s Support and Resistance for the new benchmark July contract is located around 2,260 and 2,300 respectively.