KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures opened higher on Monday after falling for two straight sessions, supported by stronger crude oil and Chicago soyoil prices, although weaker Dalian oils capped gains.

The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained RM34, or 0.75 per cent, to RM4,588 (US$1,128.10) a metric ton in early trade.

Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.65 per cent. Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract fell 0.76 per cent, while its palm oil contract shed 0.65 per cent.

Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

Oil prices were up more than US$2 a barrel after Israel struck Lebanon on Sunday, despite a truce between the two countries, eroding hopes for an end to the wider war and a restart to crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Stronger crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, weakened 1.04 per cent against the dollar, making the commodity cheaper for buyers holding foreign currencies.

World food prices slipped in May from a revised April level, with vegetable oil prices falling for the first time this year, while cereals and sugar jumped, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said.

Indonesia issued its much-anticipated regulation to bring exports of strategic commodities under central government control, a move aimed at boosting state earnings and stabilising the rupiah.

Palm oil may retest a support at RM4,538 per metric ton, probably after a weak bounce to RM4,576, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.

Asian markets plunged on Monday as investors slammed the brakes on the red-hot AI rally, while Israeli strikes on Beirut sent oil prices and the dollar higher.

Source : NST