VEGOILS-Short covering lifts palm, market still bearish due to trade concerns

* Palm rebounds to close higher

* Continued Sino-U.S. trade tensions weigh on market -trader

(Updates with closing prices)

By Emily Chow

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures

reversed early losses to end higher on Thursday due to short

covering, though traders said market sentiment was still bearish

on trade and currency concerns.

The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery

on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.3

percent at 2,222 ringgit ($542) a tonne at the end of the

trading day.

Trading volumes totalled 45,547 lots of 25 tonnes.

(1FCPO-TOT)

"We're seeing some short covering, though the market is

still bearish on trade concerns," said a Kuala Lumpur-based

trader, referring to the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute,

adding though that China seeking negotiations with the U.S.

could ease jitters.

China said on Thursday it would hold a fresh round of trade

talks with the United States in Washington later this month,

offering hope for progress in resolving a conflict that has set

world markets on edge.

Traders, however, are still concerned that palm oil exports

will be affected by sliding emerging market currencies, as

reduced purchasing power cuts into imports into countries like

Turkey and India.

Malaysia's palm oil shipments in the first half of August

fell from a month earlier, cargo surveyor data showed.

Inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia reported a 14.6 percent

decline and Societe Generale de Surveillance an 11.1 percent

fall.

In other related oils, the Chicago December soybean oil

contract rose 0.6 percent, while the January soybean oil

contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.8

percent.

The Dalian January palm oil contract slipped 0.9

percent.

Palm oil prices are affected by movements of other edible

oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils

market.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1054 GMT

Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume

MY PALM OIL SEP8 2191 +11.00 2167 2193 1072

MY PALM OIL OCT8 2204 +8.00 2181 2207 9927

MY PALM OIL NOV8 2222 +6.00 2201 2227 19051

CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN9 4868 -42.00 4800 4898 341528

CHINA SOYOIL JAN9 5834 -46.00 5778 5878 454906

CBOT SOY OIL DEC8 28.38 +0.18 28.1 28.4 7938

INDIA PALM OIL AUG8 596.60 +0.70 593.00 597.4 333

INDIA SOYOIL AUG8 735.9 +3.65 730.4 736 3220

NYMEX CRUDE SEP8 64.99 -0.02 64.43 65.25 88394

Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne

CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound

Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne

India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg

Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel

($1 = 4.1030 ringgit)

($1 = 70.2875 Indian rupees)

($1 = 6.8982 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Susan

Fenton)