KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian rubber market is likely to remain cautious next week, tracking the ringgit’s movements against the US dollar and global crude oil prices, a dealer said.
He said the rubber prices would also move in tandem with the prices of other commodities, as well as regional futures markets like the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) and Shanghai Futures Exchange.
He said US President Donald Trump’s move to order US trade officials to consider an additional US$100 billion (US$1 = RM3.86) in tariffs on China in retaliation to the country’s move to increase tariffs by up to 25 per cent on 128 US products, may indirectly hurt the prices of the commodities.
“As the biggest importer of crude oil and the world’s largest energy consumer, China’s oil demand is a key determinant of global oil prices,” he said.
However, the weakening of the ringgit versus US dollar and the recovery of rubber price on TOCOM may provide some support towards the local market, he added.
For the week just-ended, rubber prices were mostly lower early this week, before rebounding slightly on Thursday.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s noon price for tyre-grade SMR 20 declined 11.5 sen to 515 sen a kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk was 20.5 sen higher at 453 sen a kg.
The 5 pm unofficial closing price for SMR 20 was five sen lower at 516 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk bagged 25.5 sen to 455 sen a kg.
- Bernama
