CPO futures continue downtrend - Busniness Times

CPO

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended lower for the fourth consecutive day yesterday tracking a weakening global trend, dealers said.

At the close, April 2011 fell RM24 to RM3,323 per tonne, May 2011 and June 2011 fell RM36 each to RM3,292 and RM3,270 respectively, while July 2011 went down to RM38 to close at RM3,255 per tonne.

Turnover rose to 45,341 lots from 26,032 lots on Wednesday while open interest decreased to 92,967 contracts from 93,157 contracts previously.

On the physical market, April South fell by RM30 to RM3,350 per tonne. - Bernama

RUBBER

MALAYSIAN rubber prices finished higher for the fourth consecutive day yesterday following the uptrend in the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (Tocom), dealers said.

The Malaysian Rubber Board's noon official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 went up 25 sen to 1,527.50 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk improved 26.5 sen to 1,018.00 sen per kg.

The unofficial sellers' closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 increased 22 sen to 1,539.0 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk rose 22 sen to 1,029.0 sen per kg. - Bernama

OIL

LONDON: Oil prices dipped yesterday in London, weighed down by Portugal's debt crisis, but rose in New York thanks to unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, analysts said.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May inched down one cent to US$115.56 a barrel in London deals. However New York's main contract, light sweet crude for May, rose 78 cents to US$106.51 per barrel.

"The debt crisis in Portugal is likely to weigh on oil only briefly... given the numerous supportive factors," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.

"Besides the war in Libya and the ongoing unrest in other Arab countries, yesterday's inventory data from the US Department of Energy have given tailwind to oil prices... petrol stocks surprisingly fell by a sharp 5.3 million barrels, despite higher refinery utilisation." - AFP