Positive soyaoil, crude oil boost CPO prices

CRUDE palm oil futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended higher as players took cue from the positive soyaoil and crude oil prices overnight, a dealer said.

A firm trend in oil and commodity prices prompted investors to go in for some buying across various sectors, he added.

Trading was thin however as soyaoil and crude oil markets in the region were closed yesterday for the Easter holidays, a dealer said.

"Support and resistance levels are still around RM2,550 to RM2,600," said another trader.

Traders are on the lookout for a slew of palm oil data due next week such as cargo surveyor data for Malaysia'a April 1-10 palm oil exports and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's monthly production, exports and stocks data.

The April 2010 contract rose RM11 to RM2,605 per tonne, May 2010 increased RM16 to RM2,571 per tonne, June 2010 added RM16 to RM2,559 and July 2010 rose RM11 to RM2,546 per tonne.

Volume dropped to 7,134 lots from 22,873 lots on Thursday, while open interest inched up to 83,116 contracts from 77,494 contracts previously.

In the physical market, April South was unchanged at RM2,630 per tonne.

RUBBER

THE benchmark Tokyo rubber futures contract rose to a 19-month high yesterday, up for a second day in a row, helped by a weaker yen and a brighter outlook for demand.

The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for September delivery closed up 4.9 yen at 318.2 yen per kg from the previous day. It was up 4.3 per cent on the week.

The contract earlier rose as high as 318.5 yen per kg, the highest for any benchmark since early September 2008.

In the physical market, the offer price of benchmark Thai rubber grade hit a record high of US$3.6 (US$1.00 = RM3.25) per kg yesterday and was likely to rise further as supply was falling for seasonal reasons.

Japan’s crude rubber inventories totalled 7,222 tonnes as of March 20, down 10.7 per cent from 10 days earlier, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed yesterday.

Deliverable rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 15 per cent from one week earlier, the exchange said yesterday.

A Reuters poll showed on Thursday that strong demand as the global economy recovers and tight supply for seasonal reasons are expected to boost Tokyo rubber futures in April.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Rubber Board did not issue any prices for SMR grades yesterday, as the market was closed for Good Friday.

The MRB’s official physical price on Thursday for tyre-grade SMR 20 was down by 2 sen to 1,057.5 sen a kg.

Meanwhile, latex-in-bulk declined 1.5 sen to 746.00 sen a kg.

The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 fell by 1.5 sen to 1,057.0 sen and latex-in-bulk went down by ½ sen to 746.00 sen

TIN

THE Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed steadier yesterday following strong demand from both local and European traders, dealers said.

The price of the metal surged US$190 to US$18,490 per tonne while on the London Metal Exchange (LME), it remained unchanged at US$18,450 per tonne.

On the local front, turnover was reduced at 60 tonnes compared with Thursday's volume of 95 tonnes. At the opening level, bids totalled 60 tonnes while offers amounted to 45 tonnes.

The premium between the KLTM and LME widened to US$395 per tonne from US$205 per tonne on Thursday. - Bernama