* Political uncertainty, disppointing data in Europe raise fears * Malaysian palm oil exports for April 1-25 due Wednesday * S.America drought still a key driver for palm oil futures * Palm oil to fall to 3,439 ringgit -technicals (Updates prices, adds details) By Chew Yee Kiat SINGAPORE, April 24 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures extended losses on Tuesday, as investors feared that the euro zone debt woes could hurt global growth, although losses were limited by a healthy demand outlook for the edible oil on the back of lower soybean supply. Political uncertainty and disappointing data in Europe raised fears that the euro zone could struggle to push through austerity measures, dampening investor sentiment and cutting palm oil gains this year to 8.7 percent from a year-high 14 percent. "I think the main reason the market's down is the Europe economic situation. The Dow Jones Indices also dropped about 100 points, and that should affect the overall sentiment," said Alan Lim, research analyst with Malaysia's Kenanga Investment Bank. By the midday break, benchmark July palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 0.7 percent to 3,451 ringgit ($1,126) per tonne. Traded volumes stood at 6,967 lots of 25 tonnes each, much lower than the usual 12,500 lots, as most market players held back ahead of the Malaysian export numbers for April 1-25 due on Wednesday. Malaysian palm oil exports for April 1-20 fell 5.3 percent from a month earlier, a marked improvement from a 13.5 percent drop in the first half of this month due in part to stronger demand from India. Analysts also expect to see stronger exports on the back of recovering palm oil demand from the biodiesel industry in Europe. "Exports should improve slightly from the negative 5 percent because the biodiesel industry in Europe may use more palm oil. Palm oil tends to solidify during winter and now that winter has ended, demand should switch back to palm oil because it is cheaper," said Lim. On top of that, Argentina cut its official estimate for this year's soy crop last Thursday, boosting palm oil's demand potential as a smaller soy crop for crushing into soyoil will shift demand to palm oil. On the technicals front, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao posted a bearish view, saying palm oil will fall to the April 19 low of 3,439 ringgit. Brent crude was steady under $119 a barrel on Tuesday as fears over the health of the euro zone economies and political uncertainty countered worries over a production stoppage in the North Sea and potential supply disruptions from Iran. In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for May gained 0.4 percent in Asian trade while the most active Dalian soyoil September contract lost 0.8 percent. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0530 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL MAY2 3470 -28.00 3458 3485 157 MY PALM OIL JUN2 3464 -29.00 3459 3492 466 MY PALM OIL JUL2 3451 -24.00 3448 3484 5063 CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2 8790 -110.00 8770 8858 127194 CHINA SOYOIL SEP2 9906 -70.00 9872 9958 345334 CBOT SOY OIL JUL2 55.71 +0.22 55.54 55.95 5116 NYMEX CRUDE JUN2 102.86 -0.25 102.79 103.28 4207 Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel ($1 = 3.066 ringgit)

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