Palm oil futures ends lower

JAKARTA, Dec 9 (Reuters): Malaysian palm oil futures closed down on Monday, tracking a decline in rival vegetable oils on the Dalian and Chicago exchanges, while traders await data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) for further cues.

The benchmark palm oil contract for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closeddown 10 ringgit, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,118 ringgit ($1,157.39) a metric ton.

"Market is expected to trade rangebound on Monday in anticipation of the official MPOB data, due tomorrow, for further direction," said Darren Lim, commodities strategist at brokerage Phillip Nova.

Malaysia's palm oil inventories are likely to have dropped in November for a second consecutive month as torrential rains disrupted production, a Reuters survey showed.

On the day, Dalian's most-active soyoil contract dropped 0.71 per cent, while its palm oil contract slipped 0.23 per cent. Soyoil fell 0.28 per cent on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.