Rubber Market Ends Lower Amid Mixed Regional Futures

By Muhammad Fawwaz Thaqif Nor Afandi

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market ended lower on Monday, weighed down by mixed trends in regional rubber futures, a dealer said.

She said market sentiment was pressured by losses in crude oil prices and uncertainty over the United States trade policy.

"Oil prices fell on Monday after the US and Iran signalled that they will continue to negotiate over the Middle Eastern country's nuclear ambitions, (a sign of) cooling in regional tensions," she said.

At the time of writing, Brent crude oil was down 0.81 per cent to US$67.24 a barrel.

However, further declines were capped by concerns over tightening raw material supplies in major natural rubber-producing countries ahead of the Lunar New Year, as well as expectations of supportive Chinese stimulus measures.

At 3 pm, the Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 decreased 2.5 sen to 758 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk dropped by two sen to 576.5 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA