CPO FUTURES

CRUDE palm oil futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed firmer yesterday on speculative buying despite heavy physical stocks in Malaysia and Indonesia, a trader said.

Interband Group of Companies senior trader, Jim Teh, said the speculators were playing with the market in the hope of making a profit.

November increased RM61 to RM2,880 a tonne, December added RM59 to RM2,886, January 2012 inched up RM57 to RM2,892 and February 2012 gained RM55 to RM2,900.

Volume rose to 29, 646 lots from 26,981 while open interest declined to 137,721 contracts from 141,735 previously.

OIL

Brent crude slipped yesterday, hampered by eurozone debt fears after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Spain’s sovereign rating, though optimism EU policymakers will take decisive measures limited losses.

Brent crude was 50 cents (US$1.00 = RM3.20)lower at 111.65 a barrel by 1200 GMT and US crude fell 11 cents to US$88.23 a barrel.

Moody’s said on Tuesday the two-notch downgrade was partly due to the challenge Spain faced in meeting its fiscal target because of the region’s worsening growth prospects.

Equity markets were stronger after reports that France and Germany had agreed a plan to boost the euro zone rescue fund to 2 trillion euro.

RUBBER

THE Malaysian rubber market ended lower in quiet trading yesterday weighed by weaker oil prices and persistent concerns over the euro zone debt crisis, dealers said.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR20 softened 4.5 sen to 1283.50 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk decreased 2.0 sen to 819.00 sen per kg.

The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 lost 26 sen to 1262.00 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk shed 6.0 sen to 815.0 sen per kg.

TIN

THE tin price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed lower by US$100 to US$21,400 per tonne yesterday on profit taking activity, dealers said.

A dealer said the decline was also in line with the London Metal Exchange (LME), which saw the tin price fall by US$155 to US$21,345 per tonne.

At the opening bell, bids amounted to 20 tonnes while offers stood at 53 tonnes.

Turnover declined to 30 tonnes from the 35 tonnes on Tuesday with the participation of Japanese, European and local traders.

The price differential between the KLTM and the LME was at a premium of US$395 per tonne from the US$340 per tonne on Tuesday. — Agencies