CPO futures continue uptrend

CPO FUTURES

Crude palm oil futures (CPO) prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed steadier on anticipation that the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and oil palm cargo surveyors will announce a set of favourable export data, a dealer said.

She said MPOB was scheduled to release its export data for February on Monday.

March 2012 surged RM45 to RM3,335 per tonne, April 2012 rose RM47 to RM3,357, May 2012 increased RM49 to RM3,352 while June 2012 added RM41 to RM3,334 per tonne.


Volume increased to 26,245 lots from 19,528 lots on Thursday while open interest rose to 124,767 contracts from 124,015 contracts previously.

On the physical market, March South increased RM40 to RM3,330 a tonne.

OIL

LONDON: Brent crude oil dipped slightly yesterday while holding around US$125 (US$1.00 = RM3.00) a barrel, having risen more than US$3 over the past two sessions ahead of the Greek bond swap deal, and as investors’ focus shifted to the US jobs data due at 1330 GMT.

Brent crude lost 24 cents to US$125.20 a barrel by 1318 GMT.

On a weekly basis, Brent is set to show a marginal gain and its sixth weekly rise in seven weeks. US crude was up 33 cents at US$106.91 a barrel.

Oil was supported by data from top energy consumer China.

RUBBER

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian rubber market extended its gains yesterday, taking the cue from the bullish performance in regional markets and limited supply, a dealer said.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR20 surged 10.5 sen to 1,121.5 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk increased 2.5 sen to 786 sen per kg.

The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR20 rose 12.5 sen to 1,126 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk added 4.5 sen to 788 sen per kg.

GOLD

LONDON: Gold steadied yesterday ahead of US employment data that could cement expectations for the likely course of Federal Reserve monetary policy, shrugging off the negative impact of a weaker euro after Greece completed a crucial bond swap.

Greece won a strong 85.8 per cent acceptance from its private creditors for a bond swap deal which will ease its massive public debt and clear the way for a new international bailout.

Spot gold was unchanged at US$1,698.84 an ounce by 1105 GMT, having fallen by 0.7 per cent so far this week and set for a second consecutive weekly decline.

TIN

KUALA LUMPUR: Tin price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed the week higher, recording US$480 gain to US$22,850 a tonne yesterday.

A dealer said the market's bullish performance was in tandem with the London Metal Exchange (LME) which registered US$540 hike in the metal's price to US$22,800 a tonne.

"Many sellers were reserved today, waiting for the price to move higher. This pushed up the metal's price today," he said.

The dealer said Europeans dominated the market yesterday. At the opening bell, bids stood at 80 tonnes, while sellers offered only 35 tonnes.

Turnover settled at 55 tonnes, down from Thursday's 60 tonnes, with European, Japanese and local traders accounting for yesterday's transactions.

The premium between the KLTM and the LME narrowed to US$450 a tonne vis-a-vis US$510 a tonne on Thursday. - Agencies