Palm oil players flourish as investors feed on El Niño fears

CPO prices have gained 10% over the weekend.

Major palm oil players such as Golden Agri, First Resources and Wilmar were the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal trading day yesterday.

Renfred Tay of KGI Fraser Securities said that the agribusiness giants saw gains because investors are betting on the possibility of higher crude palm oil (CPO) prices.

Supply will be constrained by the imminent El Nino cycle, which meteorologists expect to take effect towards the end of the year.

Nicholas Teo of CMC Markets said that CPO prices have jumped by almost 10% over the past week, from MYR2138 last Monday to a high print of MYR 2348 Tuesday night.

“First Resources led the way up more than 3% at one stage with Golden Agri up more than 2% by the close of trading. this cluster of companies offered a slight reprieve to an otherwise miserable day of selling in the local stock markets here,” he said.