By Azizul Ahmad
KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian rubber market is likely to see rangebound trading with a downside bias next week amid lack of fresh leads, with most traders expected to watch closely the movement of rubber futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM).
The market might start the week lower as it was close for Good Friday (April 14) while TOCOM extended its decline to hit beyond a five-month low.
“Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures at TOCOM, which normally governed the direction of Malaysian rubber, ended two per cent lower on Friday due to a stronger yen and weak Shanghai futures.
“This will turn the local mart a downside bias on Monday but bargain hunters may emerge at below 700 sen for SMR 20 and at below 652 sen for latex-in-bulk,” a trader told Bernama.
For the week just-ended, the market was traded mixed to lower, driven by TOCOM’s bearishness.The tyre-grade SMR 20 snapped its four-day losing streak to close higher on a technical correction on Thursday while latex-in-bulk extended its decline.
On a Friday-to-Thursday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 erased 58.5 sen to 708.5 sen per kg and latex-in-bulk lost 11 sen to 653 sen per kg.
The 5 pm unofficial closing price for SMR 20 shed 59.5 sen to 700.5 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk was 10.5 sen lower at 652 sen per kg
