CPO futures' downslide continues - Bernama

CPO FUTURES

CRUDE palm oil futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives extended their downtrend for the second day yesterday, amid the release of better exports data, dealers said.

June 2011 lost RM44 to RM3,475 a tonne, July 2011 declined RM31 to RM3,434, while both August 2011 and September 2011 shed RM15 to RM3,393 and RM3,365 respectively.

Turnover rose to 24,703 lots from 16,739 lots on Monday while open interest slipped to 104,852 contracts from 105,790 previously.

On the physical market, June South lost RM20 to RM3,500 from RM3,520 on Monday.

OIL

LONDON: Oil rose over US$1 (US$1.00 = RM3.03) yesterday with Brent crude above US$116 a barrel as the dollar weakened on improved prospects for a bailout for heavily indebted Greece, but oil remained on track for an overall fall in May.

The euro rose to a three-week high against the dollar as the EU raced to draft a second bailout package to release loans next month for Greece, and the Wall Street Journal reported that Germany could make concessions on efforts to put together a bailout.

Brent crude futures were up US$1.34 a barrel to US$116.02 at 0808 GMT, and US crude was up US$1.31 a barrel to US$101.90. London and New York were closed for public holidays on Monday.

“The weaker dollar is the main reason why oil prices are up this morning, on hopes that an aid package for Greece will be struck,” said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst said.

The dollar was down 0.55 per cent against a basket of currencies at 0749 GMT. A weaker dollar makes oil cheaper for those holding other currencies.

Despite the rally as traders returned to their desks, both oil contracts are still down for the month of May.

Brent fell about 9 per cent and US crude shed about 12 per cent after a broad commodities sell-off at the start of the month.

RUBBER

THE Malaysian rubber market ended mixed yesterday despite regional rubber futures markets staging an uptrend, dealers said.

Major European tyre makers piled up their supply while demand from China remained weak, he said.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board's official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 was 4 sen higher at 1,394.0 sen a kg compared with 1,390.0 sen a kg recorded on Monday, while latex-in-bulk declined 2 sen to 953.0 sen .

The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 gained 5 sen to 1,398.0 sen while latex-in-bulk fell 1.5 sen each to 953 sen from Monday's closing.

TIN

A TECHNICAL correction saw the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) end US$180 higher at US$27,380 per tonne yesterday, dealers said.

Meanwhile, the London Metal Exchange (LME) remained closed for Spring Bank Holiday and US markets are closed yesterday for Memorial Day.

On the KLTM, turnover increased to 51 tonnes, from 45 tonnes on Monday, with Japanese, European and local traders accounting for the yesterday's business.

At the opening bell, buyers bid for 70 tonnes while sellers offered 35 tonnes.

The price differential between the KLTM and LME widened to a premium of US$315 per tonne, from US$135per tonne, previously.