KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Wednesday, underpinned by estimates of higher exports from the world's second-largest producer and tracking gains in rival Dalian and Chicago contracts.
The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained RM70, or 1.87 pe rcent, to RM3,806 (US$895.95) a metric ton by 0243 GMT.
Fundamentals
* Dalian's most-active soyoil contract rose 1.3 per cent, while its palm oil contract added 0.46 per cent. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 1.13 per cent.
* Palm oil tracks price movements in rival edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
* Cargo surveyors estimated exports of Malaysian palm oil products during Sept. 1-15 rose between 9.1 per cent and 10.2 per cent, compared with the same period last month.
* Oil prices steadied, after rising in the previous two sessions, as investors awaited the Fed's anticipated interest rate cut, with the potential for more violence in the Middle East supporting the market.
* Brent crude futures for November lost 0.46 per cent to US$73.36 a barrel as of 0227 GMT. Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.
* The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, strengthened 0.19 per cent against the dollar, making the commodity more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.
* Palm oil may break resistance at RM3,784 per metric ton, and rise towards RM3,864, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
Market news
* The dollar ceded some of its overnight gains while Asian stocks put in a mixed display as traders weighed the odds of a super-sized Federal Reserve interest rate cut later in the day.