Rubber Market Ends Higher, Tracking Regional Futures

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubbermarket ended higher on Monday in tandem with the uptrend in theregional rubber futures markets and a weaker ringgit against theUS dollar, a dealer said.

“Japanese rubber rose for a ninth consecutive session today,climbing to its highest since March, with the market buoyed bystrong car sales and higher oil prices,” she told Bernama.

Further gains were, nonetheless, capped by a downtrend in crudeoil prices following political turmoil in an Organisation of thePetroleum Exporting Countries member state that disrupted oilsupply,

According to the dealer, oil prices drifted lower on Monday as adequate global supplies offset concerns about supply disruptions after the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a raid over the weekend. At 4.29 pm, the ringgit weakened to 4.0675/0720 against the greenback from last Friday’s close of 4.0515/0560. Meanwhile, Brent crude was down 1.37 per cent to US$59.92 a barrel

at the time of writing. At 3 pm, Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 increased 12.5 sen to 756 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk rose two sen to 577 sen per kg.