Monday, March 8, 2010

Breaking News-RTRS-Malaysia at 17.9 pct of oil palm replanting aim

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Reuters) - Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm oil supplier, has achieved just 17.9 percent of its replanting target of 200,000 hectares announced at the end of 2008 to shore up prices, a minister said on Monday.
Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok said a total of 8,223 applications covering 205,306 hectares were approved for replanting but only 35,752 hectares were replanted by February this year.

Breaking News-RTRS-Indonesia says Unilever move on palm oil "unfair"

JAKARTA, March 5 (Reuters) - A move by Unilever to stop buying palm oil from Indonesia's top supplier Sinar Mas and to blacklist another supplier PT Duta Palma was "unfair", Indonesian Agriculture Minister Suswono said on Friday.

Breaking News-RTRS-POLL-Malaysia's Feb palm oil stocks fall for a 2nd month

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Reuters) - Malaysia's February palm
oil stocks likely fell for a second-straight month but the pace
of the decline may be slower as exports dropped more than output,
a Reuters poll showed on Friday.
Stocks fell 5 percent to 1.90 million tonnes in Malaysia, the
world's second largest palm oil supplier, slowing from a 10.7
percent decline in January, a poll of five plantation houses
showed.

Breaking News-RTRS-INTERVIEW-IndoAgri to double new oil palm planting in 2010

JAKARTA, March 5 (Reuters) - Singapore-listed Indofood Agri Resources Ltd (IndoAgri) expects to more than double its new oil palm plantings in 2010, as part of $200 million of capital spending slated for this year, its chief executive said on Friday.
A number of palm oil plantation firms have been increasing plantings to take advantage of a rebound in palm oil prices since late last year.

Breaking News-RTRS-UPDATE 1-Malaysia says end-Feb palm oil stocks down slightly

JAKARTA, March 5 (Reuters) - Malaysia's end-February palm oil stocks likely declined slightly from the preceding month, hovering near 2 million tonnes, Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities' Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said on Friday.
Any further drop in stocks would have a positive impact on palm oil price by easing pressures from the supply side as vegetable oils markets face the prospect of a bumper South American soy crop.

Breaking News-RTRS-China's big soy imports to last, corn supply worries-official

BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) - China, the world's largest soy importer, will continue to import large volumes of the oilseed while looking to its own corn production to meet rising demand for animal protein, a senior agricultural official said.
China's own soy production would remain roughly at the current level of about 15 million tonnes, but even at a maximum of 20 million tonnes, domestic output would still fall short of demand, Qian said on the sidelines of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing.

Breaking News-RTRS-China's 2010 budget reins in stockpiling largesse

BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) - China's 2010 budget has watered down last year's specific commitment to earmark funds to build commodity reserves, replacing it with a smaller sum allocated to funding the "interest and costs" associated with stockpiling.
A year ago, the 2009 budget unleashed government spending that supported not only Chinese firms but also producers overseas, who found in China a life-saving replacement for their own markets, which had all but collapsed in the global financial crisis.

Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) - World equities and oil jumped on Friday on signs of revived consumer spending and after fears a stormy February would worsen the U.S. jobs picture proved false, boosting sentiment about the pivotal labor market.

Sentiment also was buoyed after European leaders expressed confidence that new austerity measures planned by Greece would be enough to pull the country out of its debt crisis and make any bailout unnecessary.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 122.06 points, or 1.17 percent, at 10,566.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> climbed 15.73 points, or 1.40 percent, at 1,138.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 34.04 points, or 1.48 percent, at 2,326.35.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended
at their highest level in nearly eight weeks on Friday, rallying with Wall Street, as government data showed that U.S. employers cut a smaller number of jobs than expected in February, bolstering economic recovery hopes.

Crude gained sharply along with a wide array of commodities as investors bet on higher raw materials demand and firm interest rates should the economy recover.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April crude closed up $1.29, or 1.61 percent, at $81.50 a barrel, the highest close since Jan. 11's $82.52. It traded from $80.47 to $82.07, highest front-month price since $82.34 was hit Jan.12.

CBOT-CHICAGO, March 5 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grains and soy complex close on Friday.

CBOT- SOYBEANS - CBOT March soybeans up 2-1/4 cents at $9.34-3/4 a bushel, May up 3/4cent at $9.42-3/4. Choppy market attempting to consolidate. Support from short-covering and higher crude oil but seesaw trade in dollar leading to uncertainty. Outlooks for record large South American soy production continue to cap attempts to rally soy.

CBOT-SOYMEAL - CBOT March soymeal unchanged at $257.90 per ton, May down 20 cents at $257.70. Oil/meal spreading supported soyoil and weighed on soymeal.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Reuters) - Malaysia's palm oil futures ended off two-month highs on Friday as some traders took profits on strong external markets and expectations of bullish forecasts at a key industry conference next week.

Palm oil has gained 0.3 percent so far this year compared to U.S. soyoil's 2.4 percent decline, making it the best performing vegetable oil market.

Benchmark May crude palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 4 ringgit at 2,670 ringgit, after trading as high as 2,700 ringgit ($803.5) earlier in the session, a level unseen since January 6.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, March 5 (Reuters) - Malaysian shares hit a six-week high on Friday as an unexpected interest rate hike boosted the outlook for local bank stocks, but the Thai market fell for a second day due to late selling in telecom shares.

Other Southeast Asian stock markets ended in positive territory in response to encouraging U.S. retail sales and jobs data, but investors were still keen to see the monthly U.S. report on non-farm payrolls due out later on Friday.

Singapore <.FTSTI> gained 0.78 percent, Indonesia <.JKSE> was up 0.51 percent and Vietnam <.VNI> rose for a third day, adding 0.29 percent.

In Kuala Lumpur, the benchmark stock index <.KLSE> climbed 1.22 percent to its highest since Jan. 22 as investors snapped up bank shares.

After the market close on Thursday, Malaysia's central bank raised interest rates by a quarter of a point to 2.25 percent as part of efforts to unwind crisis measures, bucking expectations in a Reuters poll that rates would be left on hold.

FCPO Weekly: Building up strength


Market continue to build up its strength and looks may want to challenge the recent high (high since 10/1/2010) at 2726 levels. Next upward resistance will be looking at 2799. While, downside support is lies at 2580-2540.

FKLI Weekly: Likely to move higher in near term.


A good closing at above 1300 levels had strengthened further the immediate technical landscape to bias upside potential. Market looks likely to challenge its recent high (24/1/2010) at 1307 levels followed by 1314.5-1348 (gap left over on 9/3/2008). To the downside, support is pegged at 1260-1250 levels.