India soyoil down as palm oil slips; firm spot supports

MUMBAI, May 20 (Reuters) - Indian soyoil futures fell on Wednesday tracking the advance of the south-west monsoon, which may hit the mainland between May 23-25, and on Malaysian palm, which ended down, but a firm spot limited osses, analysts said.

The fall in the near-month contract was sharper as traders liquidated positions ahead of expiry at close of trade on Wednesday.

At 3:44 p.m., the May contract NSOK9 was down 1.56 percent at 486 rupees per 10 kg on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, while the June contract NSOM9 fell 0.43 percent to 499.85 rupees.

Prices in the spot market in Indore, a hub for trade in the commodity, rose 0.63 percent to 47,700 rupees per tonne.

India's annual monsoon rains may reach the southern state of Kerala between May 23 and 25, the weather department said on its website (www.imd.ernet.in) on Wednesday.

Last week, the department had predicted monsoon rains, crucial for crops such as cotton, soybean, sugarcane and rice, to hit Kerala on May 26, ahead of the normal date of June 1. [ID:nBMB005298]

August palm oil futures KPOc3 on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended down 1.06 percent at 2,602 ringgit a tonne. The contract was slightly positive early in the day. (Reporting by Abhishek Shanker; Editing by Sunil Nair)