KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — The Malaysian rubber market closed mixed today, influenced by the decline in benchmark crude oil prices as well as a stronger ringgit against the US dollar, a dealer said.
He said market sentiment was also impacted by losses in regional rubber futures markets amid continued caution over higher-for-longer US interest rates.
The dealer said the Japanese rubber futures slipped on Wednesday amid lower oil prices and cautious trading ahead of the upcoming US consumption data.
Meanwhile, it was reported the US Federal Reserve (Fed) signalled it is in no hurry to cut interest rates, particularly given upside risks to inflation that could stall progress or even cause price pressures to resurge.
“Nevertheless, further losses were capped by the widening global natural rubber shortage due to bad weather conditions in Thailand,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s (MRB) price for Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) fell by 3.5 sen to 766.0 sen per kg but latex-in-bulk rose by 2.5 sen to 705.50 sen per kg.
At 5 pm, MRB’s reference price for physical rubber SMR 20 stood at 763.50 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk was at 707.0 sen per kg.
— Bernama
