FCPO Related News (Mon, Mar 18)

Crude palm oil futures on Malaysia’s derivatives exchange ended higher Friday, with investors covering short positions following recent declines, market participants said. The benchmark May CPO on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended 1.6% higher at 2,415 ringgits a ton. Palm oil prices fell to their lowest level in two months on Thursday, reflecting investor concern about the upcoming South American soybean crop which is expected to boost global oilseed and vegetable oil supplies.

Modest gains in palm oil export demand during the March 1-15 period lifted sentiment, a trading executive at a Kuala Lumpur-based brokerage said. "The bears were forced to cut losses and covered short positions after the market rose past MYR2,400/ton today," the executive said. Cargo surveyor Intertek Agri Services said March 1-15 shipments rose 0.2% from a month earlier to 675,210 tons, while another surveyor SGS (Malaysia) Bhd. said exports for the period rose 4.6% to 678,829 tons. "Seeing as there’s no clear direction this week, we expect players to remain on sidelines until there’s a significant breakout from the MYR2,200-MYR2,600/ton range," a technical analyst at a foreign brokerage said.

Open interest on the BMD was 162,374 lots versus 163,195 lots Thursday. One lot equals 25 tons. A total of 40,301 lots of CPO were traded versus 29,364 lots Thursday.           [Dow Jones Newswire]

Today’s Support and Resistance for benchmark June contract is located around 2,375 and 2,430 respectively.