The Malaysian rubber market closed mixed today on weak demand as buyers anticipated prices to fall further, a dealer said.
However, he said prices were supported by the weakening ringgit against the US dollar.
Market sentiment was also affected by the decline on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange which dropped to its lowest in 18 months as investors were persistently worried over slowing demand from China.
A rubber stockpile report, monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange, also show that inventories expanded 1.6 per cent to 207,658 tonnes last week, the largest amount recorded since October 2004.
At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 decreased 15 sen to 608.5 sen a kg while latex-in-bulk increased half-a sen to 484.5 sen a kg.
The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 dropped 21 sen to 597.5 sen a kg while latex-in-bulk shed five sen to 451.5 sen a kg.– Bernama
