Trader's Comment: Palm oil futures recover from last Friday’s losses in the midst of uncertainty and recession fears.

Palm oil futures recover from last Friday’s losses in the midst of uncertainty and recession fears. Benchmark Jan 09 initially open RM64 higher at 1699, after US crude oil ended $2 higher at above $70 level, coupled with higher e-CBOT in Asian time zone. News that government world-wide injecting capital into the financial markets, and also expectations that OPEC oil ministers may decide to cut oil production in their next week’s emergency meeting, had helped lift some bullish sentiment in the local commodity market. CPO prices then “float” at a steady pace to hover between the narrow range of 1690-1718 level for the whole morning session. Nevertheless, players are still cautious on the fundamentals beneath the current market conditions, such as slowing global demand and oversupply of stock in China and India. Prices then easing off and dived to 1660 after it hit intra day high of 1727 in the early part of the afternoon session. Private cargo surveyor SGS released its weaker 1-20 Oct export data also provided some selling pressures onto the market. However, prices then rebounded back to around 1700 level again before it closed at 1677, up by RM42. Daily volume remain good, with 10,189 contracts changed hands.