VEGOILS-Palm snaps three-session losing run on strong rival vegetable oils

JAKARTA, April 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Thursday, after hitting their lowest close since October 1 in the previous session, supported by strength in rival vegetable oils and a weaker ringgit.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 25 ringgit, or 0.62%, to 4,040 ringgit ($915.89) a metric ton by 0232 GMT.

FUNDAMENTALS

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 was up 0.08%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 gained 0.32%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) BOc2 rose 0.69%.

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

The Malaysian ringgit, the contract currency of trade, weakened 0.05% against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. A weaker ringgit makes the contract more attractive for foreign currency holders.

Malaysia has maintained its May export tax for crude palm oil at 10% and lowered its reference price, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed on Tuesday.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-15 are estimated to have risen between 13.6% and 17% from a month ago, said cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services and independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia.

Oil prices extended gains on the day on the prospect of tighter supply after the U.S. imposed further sanctions to curb Iranian oil trade and as some OPEC producers pledged further output cuts to compensate for pumping above agreed quotas. O/R

Strong crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

MARKET NEWS

Asian stocks wavered after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of the risk of slowing growth and rising prices due to tariffs, while the uncertainty around U.S. trade policies kept the dollar rooted near three-year lows. MKTS/GLOB

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

1230 US Housing Starts Number Mar

1230 US Initial Jobless Clm 12 Apr, w/e

1230 US Philly Fed Business Indx Apr

1315 EU ECB Refinancing Rate, ECB Deposit Rate Apr

($1 = 4.4110 ringgit)

For a table on Malaysian physical palm oil prices, including refined oil, Reuters Terminal users can double click on or type OILS/MY01. To view freight rates from Peninsula Malaysia/Sumatra to China, India, Pakistan and Rotterdam, please key in OILS/ASIA2 and press enter, or double click between the brackets.  Reuters Terminal users can see cash and futures edible oil prices by double clicking on the codes in the brackets: To go to the next page in the same chain, hit F12. To go back, hit F11. Vegetable oils                       OILS/ASIA1 Malaysian palm oil exports           SGSPALM1   CBOT soyoil futures                  0#BO:      CBOT soybean futures                 0#S:       Indian solvent                       SOLVENT01  Dalian Commodity Exchange            DC/MENU   Dalian soyoil futures                0#DBY:   Dalian refined palm oil futures      0#DCP:   Zhengzhou rapeseed oil               0#COI:   European edible oil prices/trades    OILS/E