* Investors looking out for hints on further economic
stimulus
* Palm oil to end rebound in 3,050-3,067 ringgit zone
-technicals
* Traders anticipate higher Malaysian palm oil stocks in
August
(Updates prices)
By Chew Yee Kiat
SINGAPORE, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil
futures inched up on Thursday, recovering from a near 2-week low
hit the previous day although traders were cautious ahead of a
speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday.
Investors are looking to the speech for any hint on further
U.S. stimulus that could boost sentiment and support demand for
risky assets such as palm oil, which has lost around 5 percent
so far this year.
The edible oil has posted two straight weeks of gains as the
worst drought in over half a century damaged soybean crops in
the U.S. Midwest, hurting soybean oil supply and shifting more
vegetable oil demand to the cheaper palm oil.
"The rise in palm oil for the past week or two was mainly on
borrowed strength from soy, and if soy seems to be running out
of steam, palm is going to follow," said a trader with a foreign
commodity brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
At closing, the benchmark November 2012 contract on
the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 0.7 percent to
3,019 ringgit ($967) per tonne. Prices hit 2,978 ringgit on
Wednesday, the lowest level since Aug. 17.
Total traded volume stood at 42,592 lots of 25 tonnes each,
much higher than the usual 25,000 lots as traders adjusted their
positions.
Palm oil may end its current rebound from 2,978 ringgit in a
resistance zone of 3,050-3,067 ringgit and drop back to 2,978
ringgit, said Reuters analyst Wang Tao.
On top of bearish technicals, traders are also taking into
account prospects of higher palm oil stock levels in August that
could weigh on futures prices.
But the market will be looking out for export numbers for
the full month as resilient demand could help ease stock growth.
Exports rose as much as 6.6 percent for the first 25 days of
August from a month earlier on higher demand from major food
buyers India and China, cargo surveyor data showed.
Brent crude edged up above $113 barrel on Thursday ahead of
a meeting of central bankers later this week that will be
scoured for clues on measures to boost global economic growth,
while a potential strike by Norwegian oil workers also supported
prices.
In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil
contract for December delivery slipped 0.4 percent by
1004 GMT. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract
on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 1.3 percent higher.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL SEP2 2925 +10.00 2900 2935 850
MY PALM OIL OCT2 2969 +1.00 2952 3028 2568
MY PALM OIL NOV2 3019 +19.00 3000 3033 21501
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3 8196 +52.00 8132 8232 258272
CHINA SOYOIL JAN3 10078 +130.00 9980 10090 510830
CBOT SOY OIL DEC2 57.10 -0.20 56.95 57.47 8589
NYMEX CRUDE OCT2 95.32 -0.17 94.91 95.44 12957
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
