* Soy supports in thin trade; economic woes cap gains
* USDA report expected from 1230 GMT, seen positive for palm
By Michael Taylor
JAKARTA, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures
traded near one-month highs on Monday, supported by comparable
vegetable oils, and investors positioned themselves ahead of key
industry data from the United States.
The benchmark November palm oil FCPOc3 on the Bursa
Malaysia Derivatives Exchange traded up 0.7 percent at
3,072 Malaysian ringgit ($1,023) per tonne. Prices earlier hit a
high at 3,076.
Exchange volumes for the November contract were thin at
2,042 lots of 25 tonnes each versus 7,895 lots on Friday.
"The market today is pretty firm," said a Kula Lumpur-based
trader. "Everyone expected the market to be down but it's going
up.
"There is a huge premium on soyoil over Malaysian palm oil,"
he added. "Even today, crude oil drops and soybean oil doesn't
drop -- palm is more or less tracking soybeans."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's supply-demand report,
due on Monday at 1230 GMT, will update the agency's crop
forecasts in the light of hot and dry weather hurting U.S. soy
yields that could lift soyoil's premium to palm oil.
Soybeans rose for a second straight session ahead of the
report that is likely to forecast tightening global
stocks after harsh August weather.
"It should be positive for palm oil because everyone knows
the yield for soybean is coming down -- it should be friendly,"
said the trader.
Among other vegetable oil markets, U.S. November soy
rose, while the most active May 2012 soy oil on China's
Dalian Commodity Exchange also climbed.
Capping gains however, oil fell by more than $1 on Monday as
the dollar strengthened and investors shunned commodity risk
because of Europe's deepening sovereign debt crisis, while
economic gloom dampened the outlook for energy use.
Also hitting sentiment, the Nikkei skidded more than 2
percent to a fresh 2-1/2 year closing low on concerns Europe's
sovereign debt woes and U.S. stock losses will deepen.
Soybean futures have been largely insulated from the
economic crisis as hot weather in the United States, the world's
top exporter of grains and oilseeds, is expected to
further tighten world supplies.
"MPOB came out on the friendly side," said a Singapore-based
trader. "Everybody is taking some protection against the (USDA)
report.
"After the USDA report, I expect down downward pressure,
what with the weaker macro economic side," he added. "Today
volumes are very low."
Also on the data front, Malaysia's August palm oil stocks
fell 5.6 percent to 1,884,560 tonnes from a revised 1,996,396
tonnes in July, industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board
said.
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil in Chinese yuan per tonne
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
