By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian rubber market extended its downtrend to close easier today in tandem with lower regional rubber futures markets and a stronger ringgit against the US dollar, said a dealer.
She said the market sentiment was dampened by signs of a sluggish economy in China, where new yuan loans contracted in July for the first time in 20 years.
A decline in the United States (US) automobile sales, which fell by 300,000 in June to 15.3 million from 15.6 million after a wave of rushed buying, also dragged down sentiment.
Nevertheless, further losses were capped by gains in crude oil prices and concerns about potential natural rubber supply shortages due to rainy weather in Thailand.
Thailand’s meteorological agency warned of heavy rains and accumulations that may cause flash floods and overflows from Aug 13 to 19.
At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 declined by 6.0 sen to 726.50 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex in bulk shed 3.0 sen to 570.0 sen per kg.
-- BERNAMA
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