VEGOILS-Palm opens lower on weaker rival oils, crude oil prices

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Thursday, set to snap a four-session rally, as weaker rival edible oils and crude oil prices following U.S President Donald Trump's imposition of tariffs on trading partners weighed on sentiment.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 44 ringgit, or 0.97%, to 4,473 ringgit ($1,001.79) a metric ton in early trade.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 fell 0.45%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 shed 0.5%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1 were down 1.18%.

* Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

* Oil prices dropped $2 after Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on trading partners, stoking concerns that a global trade war may dampen demand for crude. O/R

* Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

* Trump unveiled a 10% minimum tariff on most goods imported to the U.S., with much higher duties on products from dozens of countries, kicking into high gear a global trade war that threatens to drive up inflation and stall U.S. and worldwide economic growth.

* The ringgit MYR=, palm's currency of trade, weakened 0.36% against the dollar, making the commodity cheaper for buyers holding foreign currencies.

* Palm oil looks neutral in a range of 4,500 ringgit to 4,564 ringgit per ton, and an escape could suggest a direction, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. TECH/C

MARKET NEWS

* Stocks dived and investors scrambled to the safety of bonds, gold and the yen on Thursday. MKTS/GLOB

DATA/EVENTS

0750 France HCOB - Services PMI, Composite PMI Mar

0755 Germany HCOB Services PMI, Composite Final PMI Mar

0800 EU HCOB Services Final PMI, Composite Final PMI Mar

0830 UK S&P GLOBAL PMI: COMPOSITE - OUTPUT Mar

0830 UK Reserve Assets Total Mar

1230 US International Trade $ Feb

1230 US Initial Jobless Clm 29 Mar, w/e

1345 US S&P Global Comp PMI Final, S&P Global Svcs PMI Final Mar

($1 = 4.4650 ringgit)

For a table on Malaysian physical palm oil prices, including refined oil, Reuters Terminal users can double click on or type OILS/MY01. * To view freight rates from Peninsula Malaysia/Sumatra to China, India, Pakistan and Rotterdam, please key in OILS/ASIA2 and press enter, or double click between the brackets.  * Reuters Terminal users can see cash and futures edible oil prices by double clicking on the codes in the brackets: To go to the next page in the same chain, hit F12. To go back, hit F11. Vegetable oils                       OILS/ASIA1 Malaysian palm oil exports           SGSPALM1   CBOT soyoil futures                  0#BO:      CBOT soybean futures                 0#S:       Indian solvent                       SOLVENT01  Dalian Commodity Exchange            DC/MENU   Dalian soyoil futures                0#DBY:   Dalian refined palm oil futures      0#DCP:   Zhengzhou rapeseed oil               0#COI:   European edible oil prices/trades    OILS/E