SINGAPORE, July 6: Malaysian crude palm oil futures eased from a fresh five-week high on Friday as some traders booked profits from an overbought market, although expectations of strong demand curbed losses.

Palm oil posted a 3.6 per cent gain this week, thanks to the hot and dry weather in the U.S. that has damaged soybean crops.

The prospects of limited soyoil supply could shift demand to palm oil that has been the target of last-minute buying ahead of fasting month of Ramazan starting in end-July.

“The uptrend is definitely still intact with traders speculating on the adverse weather and generally lower end-stock,” said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

Benchmark September palm oil futures on the BursaMalaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1.1 per cent to close at 3,133 ringgit ($988) per ton. Prices earlier touched a high of 3,183 ringgit, a level unseen since May 29.

Traded volumes stood at 26,272 lots of 25 tons each, slightly higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

On the technicals front, palm oil is expected to end the current rebound around resistance at 3,193 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. The market is on the lookout for a slew of data to be released next week to gauge the demand and supply trend for palm oil.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance will issue Malaysia's exports data for the first 10 days of July on Tuesday.—Reuters