CPO FUTURES ENDS HIGHER FOR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE DAY, WEIGHED DOWN BY STRONG RINGGIT

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- Crude palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives extended their upward trend to close higher for the fifth consecutive day although the gains were smaller, nearly half of yesterday’s on the most active December contract.

Fastmarkets Palm Oil Analytics senior analyst Dr Sathia Varqa told Bernama that the December contract retreated to stay below the psychological RM4,000 level during the second session as the ringgit strengthened against the US dollar and the export outlook dimmed.

He also noted that significant stimulus measures announced by China’s central bank broadly impacted Asian currencies.

“A stronger ringgit is negative for Malaysian exports. It makes Malaysian-made products like palm expensive for international buyers.

“This is made worse by palm being more expensive than bean oil,” he said.

Meanwhile, palm oil trader David Ng said the price closed higher due to strong export performance, which may lower overall stock levels.

“We see support at RM3,900 and resistance at RM4,080,” he said.

At the close, spot month October 2024 contract was RM25 higher at RM4,074, November 2024 gained RM17 to RM4,023, while the benchmark December 2024 and February 2025 rose RM11 each to RM3,988 and RM3,934 per tonne, respectively.

January 2025 contract advanced by RM10 to RM3,958 a tonne and March 2025 added RM6 to RM3,905 per tonne.

Volume declined to 79,823 lots from 83,284 last Monday, while open interest increased to 262,180 contracts from 260,058 previously.

The physical CPO price for October South remains unchanged at RM4,100 per tonne.

-- BERNAMA