By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 --  The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is likely to trade range-bound next week at between RM2,650 and RM2,750 per tonne, said a dealer.

Palm oil trader David Ng said the market would likely remain quiet due to lack of fresh leads as well as higher CPO futures prices which could hamper the demand.

“Sentiment in the market will also be weighed down by the ongoing US-China trade war and rising of COVID-19 globally, leading investors to be in a cautious mode next week,” he told Bernama.

For the week just ended, the CPO futures contract traded mixed due to heavy profit-taking and a downtrend in soyabean oil futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

On a Friday-to-Thursday basis, the CPO futures contract for August 2020 fell RM110 to RM2,780 per tonne, September 2020 declined RM129 to RM2,725 per tonne, October 2020 eased RM101 to RM2,677 per tonne, and November 2020 slipped RM73 to RM2,640 per tonne.

The market was closed on Friday in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidiladha.

Weekly volume sank to 221,137 lots from the previous week's 311,950 lots while open interest slumped to 221,137 contracts from 259,670 contracts a week earlier.

On the physical market, August South contracted RM100 to RM2,780 per tonne.

-- BERNAMA