Rubber Market Ends Mixed

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian rubber market closed mixed today, mirroring the performance of regional rubber futures markets, a dealer said.

She said the market sentiment was weighed down by falling crude oil prices and growing uncertainties over the United States’ (US) trade tariffs.

“However, further losses were limited by the ongoing concerns over tight natural rubber supplies,” she told Bernama.

The Japanese rubber futures rose on Wednesday, buoyed by increased downstream demand as companies replenish inventories and concerns over heavy rains in top producer Thailand.

Meanwhile, oil prices eased in Asia, but held near one-month highs on the back of new US sanctions on a network of shipping companies and vessels.

At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 increased by 2.5 sen to 755.50 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex in bulk fell by half-a-sen to 575.0 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA