Rubber Market On Uptrend At Close, Tracking Regional Futures

By Rosemarie Khoo

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian rubber market closed higher, extending its uptrend from last Friday, tracking the regional rubber futures market, mainly the Japanese rubber futures, which rose following expectations of the United States (US) interest rate cuts, said a dealer. 

She said market sentiment was also lifted by concerns about dwindling raw materials in major natural rubber (NR) producing countries like Thailand due to wet weather. 

Nevertheless, the dealer said further gains were capped by losses in crude oil prices as investors cautiously awaited updates on the US-China tariff truce set to expire this week. 

As at the time of writing, benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.84 per cent lower at US$66.03 per barrel. 

At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 increased by 10.0 sen to 736.00 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex in bulk was up by 5.0 sen to 574.00 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA