Palm futures dip as traders stay cautious

CPO FUTURES

KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed lower yesterday amid reports of a weak global economy, a dealer said.

Interband Group senior palm oil trader, Jim Teh, said traders were cautious ahead of an industry conference to be held here next week.

March 2013 shed RM25 to RM2,350 a tonne, April 2013 lost RM27 to RM2,360, May 2013 fell RM29 to RM2,368 and June 2013 was RM28 lower at RM2,377.

Turnover fell to 35,258 lots from 54,738 lots, while open interest fell to 195,630 from 213,073 contracts.

On the physical market, March South slipped RM20 to RM2,340 a tonne.

OIL

LONDON: Crude oil slipped to a six-week low of almost US$110 (US$1.00 = RM3.09) a barrel yesterday, weighed down by growth worries as political gridlock brought the prospect of US government spending cuts.

Brent crude for April delivery fell US$1.32 to a low of US$110.06, its weakest since January 17, before recovering slightly to around US$110.20 by 1020 GMT.

For the week, the contract shed more than three per cent, its third consecutive weekly loss.

Meanwhile, US oil fell to US$91.10, down 95 cents, having lost more than two per cent for the week.

RUBBER

KUALA LUMPUR: Rubber prices ended lower in quiet trading yesterday in tandem with the decline of other regional commodity markets, a dealer said.

The dealer said Kuala Lumpur rubber prices opened lower following the fall on Tokyo Commodity Exchange and Shanghai rubber futures.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR20 fell nine sen to 891 sen per kg and latex-in-bulk slipped 0.5 sen to 617 sen per kg.

The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR20 fell
18.5 sen to 881.5 sen per kg, while latex-in-bulk declined four sen to 615.5 sen per kg.

GOLD

LONDON: Gold fell yesterday, extending a one per cent fall in the previous session that had seen the metal close February with its longest run of monthly losses in 16 years.

Spot gold depreciated by 0.7 per cent to US$1,569.66 an ounce by 1103GMT.

Meanwhile, gold futures for April delivery fell 0.5 per cent to US$1,569.70 an ounce.

“With all the industrial commodities falling gold should have done the other thing but there are too many concerns about the eurozone and the dollar seems to be the only beneficiary,” said Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar.

TIN

KUALA LUMPUR: Tin price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed lower by US$100 a tonne to US$23,500 a tonne yesterday on the back of weak demand, dealers said.

The metal's price was also affected by losses on the London Metal Exchange (LME), a dealer said.

Tin price on the LME also declined slightly by US$75 to US$23,405 a tonne.

At the opening bell, offers outnumbered bids by 30 tonnes to 68 tonnes.

However, turnover was higher at 40 tonnes from 35 tonnes on Thursday, with Europeans, Japanese and local traders dominating trade.

The premium between the KLTM and the LME narrowed to US$525 a tonne from US$550 a tonne Thursday. - Agencies