CPO futures end marginally higher - Business Times

CPO FUTURES

CRUDE palm oil futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed marginally higher yesterday in line with higher soyaoil prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, dealers said.

May 2011 rose RM11 to RM3,310 a tonne, June 2011 increased RM17 to RM3,277, July 2011 added RM9 to RM3,255 and August 2011 edged up RM5 to RM3,250.

Turnover increased to 25,047 lots from 19,154 lots on Monday while open interest declined to 103,905 contracts from 106,835 previously.

On the physical market, April South was slightly higher at RM3,320 from RM3,310 a tonne on Monday.

OIL

LONDON: Brent crude oil futures fell below US$120 (US$1.00 = RM3.02) yesterday, pressured by concern over the economic outlook and the risk that high prices could erode demand.

By 1318 GMT, Brent crude was trading US$2.20 lower at US$119.41 a barrel. US crude for May fell US$1.16 to US$105.96.

Expectations that Greece will restructure its debt added to a bleak economic picture, a day after ratings agency S&P cut its outlook for US credit.

“There’s still a few worries in Europe, Monday’s downgrading of the US didn’t help and I think we’re going to have to look at tomorrow’s energy figures to give us impetus,” said Rob Montefusco at Sucden Financial.

RUBBER

THE rubber market closed lower yesterday in line with weaker Tokyo rubber futures, dealers said.

The market’s underlying fundamentals remained intact due to limited supply in major producing countries, they added.

At 12pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official daily physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 fell 29.5 sen to 1,480.5 sen a kg from 1,510.0 sen on Monday and latex-in-bulk lost 9.5 sen to 1,044.5 sen.

The unofficial sellers’ closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 slipped 32.5 sen to 1,463.0 sen from 1,495.5 sen on Monday and latex-in-bulk eased 14.5 sen to 1,034.0 sen compared to 1,048.5 sen previously.

TIN

THE tin price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed lower by US$200 at US$32,600 per tonne yesterday as players took cue from the sharp fall in tin price on the London Metal Exchange (LME), dealers said.

They said the tin price on the LME was sharply lower as players were worried over the outlook of the US economy, after rating agency Standard & Poor''s lowered its US credit outlook to negative.

The tin price on the LME, which influences global prices, dropped US$730 to US$32,375 per tonne.

At the opening bell on the KLTM, offers outpaced bids by 86 tonnes to 20 tonnes. Turnover declined to 30 tonnes from 56 tonnes on Monday with buying interest from Japanese, European and local traders.

The price differential between the KLTM and LME widened to a premium of US$675 per tonne from US$145 per tonne on Monday.