KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian rubber market is likely to trend lower next week on worries over slowing demand from top consumer China. A dealer said investors are increasingly worried that China’s economy might be losing momentum again, thus impacting demand for the commodity.
“Signs of recovery in the Chinese economy seems to be fading as its official Purchasing Managers’ Index eased to 50.1 in April from 50.2 in March. “Traders are concerned that policymakers may be taking a more cautious stance on further stimulus as bad debts soar,” he added. For the week just ended, the local market was traded from mixed to lower, tracking the performance of the bearish Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber futures. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 declined 46 sen to 515.50 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk slipped 27 sen to 473 sen a kg. The 5 pm unofficial closing price for SMR 20 fell 48.5 sen to 512.50 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk declined 24 sen to 471.5 sen a kg.
