KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Reuters) -Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Thursday, weighed down by weakness in rival Dalian and Chicago contracts, although firmer crude oil prices and a weaker ringgit capped losses.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 15 ringgit, or 0.38%, to 3,917 ringgit ($839.84) a metric ton by 0239 GMT.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 fell 0.58%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 lost 0.41%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1 were down 0.05%.

* Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

* Oil prices ticked higher, buoyed by a bigger-than-expected weekly decline in U.S. crude stocks.

* Brent LCOc1 futures rose 18 cents, or 0.21%, to $85.26 a barrel by 0231 GMT.

* Firmer crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

* The ringgit MYR=, palm's currency of trade, weakened 0.09% against the dollar, making the commodity less expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.

* Malaysia maintained its August export tax for crude palm oil at 8.0% and raised its reference price, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed.

* Palm oil may fall into a range of 3,841-3,873 ringgit per metric ton, as a bounce from the July 10 low of 3,850 ringgit may have ended, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.

MARKET NEWS

* Asian equities fell, led by chip stocks as investors fret over the prospect of escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China, while the yen surged to a six-week high in the wake of suspected interventions by Tokyo last week.

DATA/EVENTS

0600 UK Claimant Count Unem Chng June

0600 UK ILO Unemployment Rate May

0600 UK HMRC Payrolls Change June

1215 EU ECB Refinancing Rate July

1215 EU ECB Deposi Rate July

1230 US Initial Jobless Clm 13 July, w/e

1230 US Philly Fed Business Indx July

($1 = 4.6640 ringgit)

Reporting by Danial Azhar; Editing by Rashmi Aich

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