Palm oil prices fell at the close on Friday but have risen for the month.

four-month losing streak on Friday, despite a late-day decline as investors took profits. They rose weekly in January, up 4.42%, thanks to higher soybean oil and crude oil prices, favorable production and export data, while the ringgit also weakened. Benchmark palm oil contract FCPO1! April delivery crude oil on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 88 ringgit, or 2.04%, to close at 4,229 ringgit (US$1,073.62) per metric tonne. “Today’s futures were in profit-taking territory, as they were over the weekend, and also followed the weakness of Dalian and Chicago soybean oil after their recent gains,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said. The most-active Dalian soybean oil contract fell 0.84%, while the palm oil contract lost 0.96%. Soybean oil prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell 1%. Palm oil prices follow the price movements of competing edible oils as it fights for share in the global vegetable oil market. However, losses were limited by the weakening of the ringgit, ...