KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian rubber market closed lower today in line with the benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) and also thestronger ringgit, a dealer said.
He said the TOCOM rubber futures declined due to light trade and impacted by unfavorable equity prices.
“This is after economic data from the United States and China projected a sluggish outlook for both countries in terms of growth.
“The low economic data, coupled with Shanghai’s relatively high level rubber inventories, left analysts not expecting much trade in the near future,” he told Bernama.
He said the US jobs data on Friday indicated that growth slowed a bit in July while the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose, adding, the lacklustre labour market would provide the Federal Reserve room to keep interest rates low.
At the close, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 slipped one sen to 536.5 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk lost two sen to 442.5 sen a kg.
The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 fell one sen to 536.5 sen a kg and latex-in-bulk went down two sen to 442 sen a kg.– Bernama
