KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian rubber market is expected to remain subdued this week on bearish external sentiment.
A dealer said rubber price trendsetter the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (Tocom) hit another seven-year low on Friday and was on track for its biggest weekly loss in four months, dragged down by worries over plunging stock prices in China, slumping oil markets and a stronger yen.
“The outlook for the market is uncertain as market operators were concerned about slowing demand from China and lower crude oil prices,” he said.
For the week-just-ended, rubber prices were mostly lower, influenced by external factors, including the weakening of crude oil prices and softening of China’s economy, the world largest rubber consumer.
On a Friday-to-Thursday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s sellers’ official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 fell 17.5 sen to 462 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk slipped one sen to 330.50 sen a kg.
Meanwhile on a Friday-to-Wednesday basis, the unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 eased 19.5 sen to 461 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk declined 5.5 sen to 339 sen a kg. –- Bernama
