FCPO Related News (Mon, May 6)

Malaysian palm oil futures slipped to a near 5-month low on Friday, posting a weekly loss of 2.7 percent, with many investors exiting the market as the country heads into polls. The Malaysian benchmark stock index lost more than a tenth on its first trading day after the country's last elections in 2008.  A weaker ringgit will be good for palm oil, but a weaker stock index is bad. Investors also avoided taking risks as they waited for further trading clues from official data on palm stocks and output levels due next week.

The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.3 percent to close at 2,254 ringgit ($743) per tonne. Prices earlier fell to 2,243 ringgit, a level last seen on Dec. 14. Total traded volumes stood at 28,510 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly below the average 35,000 lots. Cargo surveyor data on Tuesday showed April's palm oil exports fell between 4.3 percent and 5.6 percent on the month, on waning Chinese demand, stoking concern that prices, already down around 7.5 percent this year, could tumble further. Affin Investment Bank on Friday cut its average selling price forecast for crude palm oil in 2013 to 2,600 ringgit per tonne from 2,800 ringgit, citing a sluggish outlook due to "uneven global growth, high palm oil stocks, the outbreak of the H7N9 virus in China, and a likely delay in the implementation of biodiesel policy".

In other markets, Brent crude eased slightly lower below $103 a barrel on Friday, but held most of its gains from the previous session, as investors awaited U.S. jobs figures that may show the economy is quickening in the world's top oil consumer. In vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil for July delivery rose 0.6 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange gained 0.9 percent.           [Reuters]

FCPO benchmark July contract opened slightly higher this morning at 2,263. Today’s Support and Resistance for benchmark July contract is located around 2,230 and 2,280 respectively.