CPO futures down on lack of demand

CPO FUTURES

KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed lower yesterday on a lack of demand, dealers said.

Interband Group Senior Palm Oil Trader Jim Teh said the traders traded cautiously in wary of India possibly raising its import tax.

March 2013 lost RM15 to RM2,375 a tonne, April lost RM13 to RM2,387, May 2013 shed RM13 to RM2,397 and June fell RM14 to RM2,405.

Turnover rose to 54,738 lots from 34,090 lots while open interest rose to 213,073 from 196,874 contracts previously.

On the physical market, March South slipped RM20 to RM2,360 a tonne.

OIL

LONDON: Brent crude oil rose above US$112 (US$1.00 = RM3.09) a barrel yesterday on renewed confidence that major central banks will keep taking steps to support the global economy.

Brent crude for April delivery rose 23 cents to US$112.11 by 1123 GMT, after earlier rising to US$112.37. It fell to US$111.65 on Wednesday.

The benchmark crude is still down around 2.8 per cent this month, putting it on track for its steepest monthly drop since October.

US oil fell 19 cents to US$92.67 and was on track for an almost five per cent drop this month after three straight monthly gains.

RUBBER

KUALA LUMPUR: Local rubber prices closed higher yesterday in tandem with a rebound in the regional markets, dealers said.

A dealer said the market rebounded following a positive market reaction to a comment from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke in favour of continuing the central bank’s bond-buying programmes.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR20 appreciated by five sen to 900 sen a kg and latex-in-bulk improved by 2.5 sen to 617.5 sen a kg.

The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR20 gained 5.5 sen to 900 sen a kg while latex-in-bulk advanced by four sen to close at 619.5 sen a kg.

GOLD

LONDON: Gold headed towards its longest run of monthly declines in more than 16 years yesterday, as an improved economic backdrop and lower inflation concerns continued to blunt its appeal to investors.

Spot gold fell 0.5 per cent to US$1,589.55 an ounce by 1052 GMT, on course for a monthly fall of nearly four per cent.

“Investor appetite is completely shattered and is not likely to pick up overnight,” VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said.

“The break below US$1,600 aggravated losses made already in January when speculative interest dropped,” he added.

TIN

KUALA LUMPUR: Tin price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed US$300 per tonne higher at US$23,600 a tonne in line with the London Metal Exchange (LME), a dealer said.

The metal's price on the LME rose US$180 to US$23,480 a tonne.

The dealer said the higher KLTM was supported by strong buying interest from European traders.

At the opening bell, bids outnumbered offers by 80 tonnes to 16 tonnes.

Turnover slipped to 35 tonnes, from 45 tonnes on Wednesday, with Japanese, European and local traders dominating trade.

The premium between the KLTM and the LME widened to US$550 a tonne compared with US$430 a tonne on Wednesday. - Agencies