Palm oil down

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell in the Friday morning session, retreating further from a six-month high, as a rise in export tax for October and a strengthening ringgit dampened sentiment.

The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange (BMDE))slid 0.56 percent to 2,851 ringgit ($680.43) by the midday break, easing further from a six-month high of 2,873 ringgit hit on Wednesday.

Trading volumes stood at 26,951 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the previous session´s midday level. A Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader said the increase of crude palm oil export tax for October to 6 percent from 5.5 percent weighed on the sentiment. —