By Nur Athirah Mohd Shaharuddin
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian rubber market closed higher on Friday, in tandem with the uptrend in regional rubber futures markets, said a dealer.
She said the market sentiment was also boosted by easing concerns over United States (US) China trade tensions and expectations of further US interest rate cuts amid weaker US economic data.
“However, further gains were limited by a slightly stronger ringgit against the US dollar and losses in crude oil prices,” she told Bernama.
The dealer noted that Japanese rubber futures rose today and were on track for a weekly gain, supported by a softer yen and robust demand, while oil prices dipped on Friday due to profit-taking after fresh US sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies over the war in Ukraine fuelled supply concerns.
At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) increased by three sen to 748.50 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk rose by 0.5 sen to 568.00 sen per kg.
-- BERNAMA