KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian rubber market is expected to remain well bid next week.
A dealer said the market would likely be supported by the expectation of a weaker ringgit against the US dollar.
“The US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike message will keep the greenback in the limelight going forward, thus a weaker ringgit is still in the picture.
“The weaker local currency is expected to support the demand for the commodity as it will make it cheaper for international buyers,” he told Bernama.
He added the local rubber market would also be influenced by the performance of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) and Shanghai Futures Exchange.
For the week just-ended, the local market was on a bullish mode for three days running and sent prices to its highest level since January 2014.
However, the buying momentum was halted by profit-taking on Friday amid a 1.7 per cent decline in TOCOM.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s noon price for tyre-grade SMR 20 jumped 24.5 sen to 733.5 sen a kg and latex-in-bulk added 23 sen to 547 sen a kg.
