Rubber Market Ends Mixed On Weak Regional Futures Amid US-Iran Conflict

By K. Naveen Prabu

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market ended mixed today, influenced by the downtrend in regional rubber futures markets amid the United States-Iran conflict which continued to dampen market sentiment, a dealer said.

“South Korea warned that the conflict could disrupt supplies of key semiconductor manufacturing materials due to higher energy costs, and some key materials cannot be sourced from the Middle East,” she told Bernama. 

However, she said further declines were capped by gains in crude oil prices. 

“Oil prices surged more than three per cent on Thursday, extending a rally as the escalating conflict raised fears of prolonged disruptions to vital Middle East oil and gas supplies,” she said. 

At the time of writing, Brent crude oil price jumped 2.58 per cent to US$83.50 a barrel. 

At 3 pm, the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 decreased four sen to 784 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk gained five sen to 642.50 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA