KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian rubber market is likely to trade cautiously this week as investors remain on the sidelines following confirmation of the United States quitting the Paris climate deal.
A dealer said US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the world’s largest economy from the deal would have an impact on global crude oil prices.
“A slide in crude oil prices would make the rival synthetic rubber cheaper and lower demand for natural rubber,” he said.
He also noted that a firmer ringgit could also hamper demand for the commodity as it would become more expensive for non-ringgit holders.
However, he did not rule out a rebound taking place next week, judging from the bearish performance of the local rubber market a week earlier.
WEAKER PRICES
For the week just-ended, trading was mostly lower, tracking the weaker rubber futures prices on regional markets and stronger ringgit’s movement against the US dollar.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 at noon slid 46 sen to 611 sen a kg and latex-in-bulk eased half-a-sen to 631 sen a kg.
The 5 pm closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 was 20 sen lower at 612 sen a kg and latex-in-bulk slid six sen to 631 sen a kg.
