Rubber Market Ends Lower On Weaker Crude Oil

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market ended lower on Tuesday, pressured by declines in crude oil prices and a stronger US dollar, amid mixed sentiment in regional rubber futures markets, a dealer said.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump said he had paused a planned attack on Iran to allow negotiations to end the conflict in West Asia.

At the time of writing, Brent crude oil prices fell 1.71 per cent to US$110.22 per barrel.

The dealer said market sentiment was also dampened by uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook and the inflationary impact resulting from the West Asia conflict.

“Nevertheless, further losses were capped by concerns of tight rubber supply, optimism in the Chinese economy and hopes of a West Asia peace deal,” she told Bernama.

At 3 pm, the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 eased three sen to 890 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk decreased by five sen to 775.5 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA