Palm | Kelapa Sawit

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell 1.1 percent on Monday with few leads as U.S. markets were shut for a holiday although investors feared hot and dry weather might slash soy crop yields in the Midwest and spur demand for the Asian edible oil.

Firm palm oil exports have given support to benchmark palm oil futures that have lost about a fifth so far this year on high stocks, concerns over global economic slowdown and volatile financial markets

The benchmark November crude palm oil contract FCPOc3 settled down 32 ringgit at 3,018 ringgit ($1,018.13)a tonne.

Traded volumes were still thin at 11,999 lots of 25 tonnes each versus the usual 25,000 lots after markets opened from a long holiday last week and amid weak interest since U.S. markets were shut for a public holiday.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Monday as dismal U.S. jobs data renewed fears of a U.S. recession, turning regional big caps under selling pressure and commodity stocks pulled lower along with weak global oil prices.

Mounting risks of the impact of slowing global growth on earnings of listed firms prompted investors to cut their positions. Market turnover was off its monthly average.

Traders were sidelined in the absence of indicators from Wall Street which was shut on Monday and as European shares fell, extending their previous session slide.

The region gave back last week's gains with Singapore stocks .FTSTI suffering their biggest losses in two weeks, finishing down 2.5 percent, after a 3.5 percent gain last week.

Singapore was among Asian countries with a higher share of exports to Western countries, that could be hurt if the United States or European economies continued to slow.

Stocks in Malaysia .KLSE, Thailand .SETI and the Philippines .PSI posted smaller falls. Vietnam .VNI inched up 0.1 percent and Indonesia .JKSE edged up 0.6 percent, rising as much as 1.8 percent at one point, on resuming trade after holidays last week.

Brokers in the region expect near term market weakness as global economic prospects continue to worsen markedly.