Rubber Market Ends Mixed For Third Straight Day

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market ended mixed for the third consecutive day on Friday, tracking regional rubber futures, said a dealer.

The dealer said market sentiment was weighed on by concerns over surging global inflation and a fragile United States-Iran ceasefire which continue to cloud the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate path.

US inflation increased as expected in February with the personal consumption expenditures price index climbing 0.4 per cent and likely to rise further in March amid the war with Iran, a trend that is expected to discourage the Fed from cutting interest rates for a while.

“However, losses were limited by gains in crude oil prices, accelerating Chinese auto exports, and a rebound in China's factory-gate prices,” she added.

At the time of writing, Brent crude rose 2.31 per cent to US$98.14 per barrel.

Meanwhile, at 3 pm, Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 declined by 8.5 sen to 823 sen per kilogramme, while latex in bulk increased by eight sen to 759.5 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA