Vegetable Oil Prices Mixed on Directionless Crude Oil

World vegetable oil prices were mixed on Friday with nearby soybean oil and palm oil prices unchanged or slightly higher, while deferred contracts ended the week marginally lower. Crude oil prices traded on both sides of unchanged but were also close to Thursday’s close at the end of agricultural trading. Equity markets traded in a volatile session as traders try to gauge the impact of a resurgence in the coronavirus outbreak in critical states. To the extent equity prices reflect expectations for the economic recovery, their movement in the coming week may provide some insight into the trend in oil prices over the next several weeks.

Soybean oil futures settled less than 0.1 percent on either side of unchanged, but traded higher in the overnight session and lower during U.S. trading hours as prices largely followed…