Rubber Market Closes With Slight Gains

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market closed slightly higher on Tuesday supported by an easier ringgit against the US dollar, said a dealer.

At the opening this morning, the local currency traded at 4.1120/1220 against the greenback versus 4.1100/1145 at yesterday’s closing.

The dealer also said concerns over natural rubber supply shortages due to adverse weather in major natural rubber producer Thailand also drove rubber market prices to close higher.

He said market sentiment was also lifted by positive Chinese economic data and optimism for additional stimulus amid a mildly bullish outlook for Asia.

“However, gains were limited by falling benchmark crude oil prices and mixed trends in regional rubber futures as traders remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and its outlook for the US economy,” he told Bernama.

At 3 pm, the price of both Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 and latex-in-bulk was up by half-a-sen to 718.5 sen per kilogramme (kg) and 576.5 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA