Rubber Market Ends Higher, Tracking Regional Futures Markets

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market closed higher on Monday, tracking the performance in the regional rubber futures markets.

A dealer said that the tight natural rubber production due to adverse weather forecasts in Southeast Asian production areas continued to support the market, with Thailand’s meteorological agency warning of heavy rains that may cause flash floods this week.

Nevertheless, further gains were capped by losses in crude oil prices as the sentiment was dented by uncertainties in the timing and scale of China’s stimulus package, coupled with the escalating Middle East conflict.

China’s consumer price index grew at a slower-than-expected rate of 0.4 per cent year-on-year in September, defying expectations that it would remain steady from the 0.6 per cent seen in the preceding month.

The Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) was up by 16.5 sen to 870 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk rose three sen to 752 sen per kg.

At 5 pm, SMR 20 stood at 864 sen per kg, while latex-in-bulk was at 753.5 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA