Malaysian palm oil futures eased on Thursday after making gains in early trade, recording a fourth consecutive session of declines tracking a stronger ringgit.
The ringgit, the currency of trade for palm oil, gained 0.4 percent to 4.0450 per dollar in the evening. Earlier it rose to its highest against the dollar since May 18 at 4.0230, making palm oil more expensive for foreign currency holders.
The palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.1 percent to reach 2,587 ringgit ($640) per tonne at the close of trade.
Traded volumes stood at 43,807 lots of 25 tonnes each, below a 2015 average of 44,600.
Palm's fourth straight session of declines has it on track to fall nearly 3 percent so far this week.
"The market is tracking the ringgit, hence the decline," said a trader from Kuala Lumpur.
Another trader had earlier said the stronger ringgit was seen capping gains, though the market is expecting bullish government data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.
Official statistics for the month of May from the MPOB will be released on Friday around noon. A Reuters survey of nine traders, analysts and planters forecast inventories to drop 8.8 percent to 1.64 million tonnes from April.
A stronger rise in exports, up 13.1 percent on April due to Ramadan demand, is seen outpacing smaller output growth of 3.9 percent, according to the poll.
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