Palm slips more than 1%, books second weekly fall

Malaysian palm oil futures slipped more than 1% on Friday, booking a second consecutive weekly decline, as weaker rival edible oils and a firmer ringgit pressured prices. The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 74 ringgit, or 1.86%, to 3,906 ringgit ($958.76) a metric ton, its lowest closing price since June 12. The contract has declined 2.79% this week. Crude palm oil prices were mainly pressured by weakness in the rival oilseeds market where the Dalian palm olein remained in the red after overnight declines, said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader. “A firm ringgit near 4.08 are also keeping buyers sidelined,” the trader added. The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, strengthened 0.17% against the dollar, making the commodity expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies. Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract fell 1.41%, while its palm oil contract shed 1.33%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.23%. Palm oil ...