CPO futures rise on strong demand

CPO FUTURES

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed higher yesterday amid concerns that production would be affected by the current dry spell, dealers said.

The market was well supported by strong demand due to the onslaught of the fasting month and this was expected to help CPO prices remain above RM3,000 per tonne.

Both August and September increased RM20 each to RM3,117 and RM3,119 per tonne respectively, while October gained RM19 to RM3,119 and November added RM22 to RM3,119.

Turnover fell to 12,932 lots, from 27,685 lots, on Monday while open interest was lower at 133,648 contracts, from 133,671 contracts previously.

OIL

LONDON: Oil prices rose yesterday, bolstered by dollar weakness as a political tussle on raising the US debt ceiling persisted, though investors shrugged off fears that a US default would undermine the appetite for riskier assets.

US crude oil was 49 cents higher at US$99.69 (US$1.00 = RM3.00) a barrel by 1125 GMT after earlier touching a high of US$99.80. Brent crude was up 28 cents at US$118.22, retreating from the day’s high of US$118.60.

“There is a political circus, and everyone is saying it could be a disaster if the (US debt) ceiling is not raised, but the market is not pricing in any catastrophic potential,” said Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland.

RUBBER

MALAYSIAN rubber prices closed lower yesterday on lack of buying interest. A dealer said market players were reluctant to take new positions amid growing concern of a US debt default.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for the SMR 20 slipped half-a-sen to 1,373.0 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk went down 5 sen to 885.5 sen per kg.

The unofficial closing price for the tyre-grade SMR 20 gained 6.5 sen to 1,378.0 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk decreased half a sen to 886.0 sen per kg.

TIN

THE Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) was unchanged at US$28,180 per tonne yesterday with sentiment cautious in view of softer tin prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME), dealers said.

Tin price on the LME, however, declined US$150 to US$28,150 per tonne. At the opening bell, bids and offers both stood at 60 tonnes each.

Turnover amounted to 60 tonnes, down from Monday's 65 tonnes, with participation noted from Japanese, European and local traders.

The premium between the KLTM and the LME widened to US$435 per tonne against US$285 per tonne, recorded on Monday. - Agencies