Rubber Market Ends Lower Tracking Regional Markets, Stronger Ringgit

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market ended lower on Thursday, tracking declines in regional rubber futures markets and a stronger ringgit against the US dollar, said a dealer.

The dealer said Japanese rubber futures fell on Thursday due to weak supply-demand fundamentals, despite some support from firmer crude oil prices.

“Nevertheless, further losses were limited by stronger crude oil prices, as major natural rubber-producing nations continued to experience rains, amid increased confidence that the US Federal Reserve will cut rates next week,” he told Bernama.

At the time of writing, Brent crude oil was up 0.17 per cent to US$62.84 per barrel. Meanwhile, at the opening on Thursday morning local time, the ringgit was firmer at RM4.11 against the US dollar.

At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board said the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 was down by 7.5 sen to 714 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk eased by three sen to 574.5 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA