KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Tuesday after five straight sessions of gains, weighed down by declines in Chicago soyoil and crude oil. The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 56 ringgit, or 1.28%, to 4,311 ringgit ($968.33) a metric ton in early trade.
FUNDAMENTALS Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1 were down 3.4%. The Dalian Commodity Exchange was closed for the Chinese Lunar New Year and will reopen on Wednesday. Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. Oil prices retreated after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to hold off imposing steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada, the two biggest foreign oil suppliers to the United States, for a month.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 0.68% to $75.44 a barrel by 0240 GMT. Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock. The ringgit MYR=, palm's currency of trade, strengthened 0.4% against the dollar, making the commodity more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.
Brazil's 2024/25 soybean crop is expected to reach a record 174 million metric tons, agribusiness consultancy Celeres said, bumping up its forecast from a prior 170.8 million tons due to positive weather conditions. Palm oil may retrace into a range of 4,265 ringgit to 4,315 ringgit per ton, as it failed to break resistance at 4,402 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. MARKET NEWS Hong Kong shares hit two-month highs, U.S. equity futures rose and currencies swung to-and-fro in big ranges as investors scrambled to keep up with sudden changes in U.S. trade policy.
($1 = 4.4520 ringgit)
