CPO futures dip on tracks of soya oil decline

CPO FUTURES

KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil futures contracts closed lower yesterday despite better exports for palm oil products.

A dealer said the fall in CPO prices was in line with the downtrend of other vegetable oils markets due to improved prospects for South American soya bean supply.

March 2013 fell RM56 to RM2,419 a tonne, April 2013 lost RM61 to RM2,449, May 2013 lost RM63 to RM2,470 and June 2013 was RM66 lower at RM2,488 a tonne.

Turnover rose to 37,569 lots from 20,589 lots while open interest spiralled to 201,834 from 186,706 contracts last week.

On the physical market, March South declined RM60 to RM2,400 a tonne.

OIL

LONDON: Brent crude rose close to US$116 (US$1.00 = RM3.09) a barrel yesterday due to a weaker dollar, while investors awaited the outcome of Italy’s elections to gauge the troubled region’s economic outlook.

Brent gained US$1.66 to US$115.76 a barrel by 1118GMT, after sliding to as low as US$113.73.

Meanwhile, US oil rose 82 cents to US$93.95.

“The latest US data on employment, manufacturing and inflation suggest that the US Federal Reserve will not change direction any time soon,” said David Hufton an analyst working with PVM brokerage.

RUBBER

KUALA LUMPUR: The local rubber market closed higher yesterday due to the weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar despite the lower opening on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), a dealer said.

He said the downside on the TOCOM market is, however, deemed limited as the Thai government has decided not to renew its rubber-buying scheme because of tightening supply with the country about to enter the dry season.

In the meantime, he added, local buyers remained on the sidelines waiting for a clearer market direction before making the next move.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR20 was four sen higher at 909.5 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk appreciated by 0.5 sen to 620 sen a kg.

The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR20 closed at 910.5 sen, after appreciating by two sen, while latex-in-bulk inched up 0.5 sen to close at 620 sen a kg.

GOLD

LONDON: Gold rose yesterday as rallying stock markets and a broadly lower dollar helped the metal recoup some of last week’s losses, but investors were cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve chairman’s testimony to Congress later this week.

Spot gold rose 0.7 per cent to US$1,592 by 1121GMT. It hit a seven -month low of US$1,554.49 on Thursday after the Fed’s last meeting triggered worries the central bank may wind down its bond-buying programme.

US gold futures for April delivery rose 1.2 per cent to a session high of US$1,592.

TIN

KUALA LUMPUR: Tin price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) turned higher yesterday to close US$100 higher at US$23,350 a tonne, in line with the uptrend on the London Metal Exchange (LME), a dealer said.

The metal's price on the LME increased by US$10 to US$23,110 a tonne.

The dealer said the local tin prices gained some support after recent losses as sellers lowered their offering, with bids at 30 tonnes but only 20 tonnes offered.

Trading was dominated by Japanese, European and local players with scattered buying interest fuelling the local tin price.
Turnover fell 21 tonnes from 43 tonnes last Friday.

The premium between the KLTM and the LME widened to US$670 a tonne against US$580 a tonne previously. - Agencies