Profit-Taking Drives Palm Oil Lower Ahead of Lunar New Year

Vegetable oil markets were lower on Thursday. Palm oil futures caught down to the declines posted on Wednesday in the soybean oil market, while meal/oil spreading by funds weighed on soybean oil prices. Palm oil prices were also pressured by profit-taking ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The palm oil market closed after the morning session on Thursday, in observance of the holiday, and will resume trading on Monday.

Nearby soybean oil futures were marginally lower (March contract -6 basis points per pound). However, the declines in the back end of the curve were larger (December contract -29 basis points). Despite the modest decline, the nearby contract range was greater than one cent for the fourth consecutive day. Buying at the 10-day moving average limited the decline while selling above the 46-cent level in…