KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade lower next week on lack of market catalysts, a dealer said.
Interband Group senior palm oil trader Jim Teh said the market was likely to be quiet as most investors would be away due to the Chinese New Year holidays.
“In the holiday-shortened week, the commodity volume would drop as most traders take a long leave,” he told Bernama.
Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries will be closed on Monday and Tuesday (Jan 23 and 24, 2023) in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration. The stock exchange operator said it would resume operations on Wednesday, Jan 25.
However, during the three trading days next week, Teh expected to see some profit-taking activities for speculative gain and anticipated that prices would move between RM3,500 and RM3,600 per tonne.
Meanwhile, palm oil trader David Ng also said that next week, the market would trade in a tight range with slower activities given the long weekend break.
On a weekly basis, February 2023 gained RM52 to RM3,885 per tonne, March 2023 was RM46 higher at RM3,887 per tonne, April 2023 rose RM47 to RM3,892 per tonne, May 2023 added RM40 to RM3,890 per tonne, and June 2023 increased RM38 to RM3,883 per tonne. However, July 2023 eased RM25 to RM3,863 per tonne.
Total weekly volume fell to 230,566 lots from 332,831 lots, while open interest edged down to 179,235 contracts from 191,732 contracts at the end of last week.
The physical CPO price for February South stood at RM3,950 per tonne. - Bernama
