RUBBER MARKET ENDS MIXED ON LOWER CRUDE OIL PRICES

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market ended mixed on Friday, influenced by a downtrend in crude oil prices and the stronger ringgit against the greenback, a dealer said.

The market also responded to the United States Federal Reserve’s (Fed) announcement of interest rate cuts, she said.

“Nevertheless, further losses were capped by steady demand in the regional rubber futures market coupled with tight supply concerns due to bad weather forecasts in Thailand,” she told Bernama.

The dealer said oil prices fell slightly on Friday as the risk that a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico will significantly affect the US oil and gas output, while the market weighs how Donald Trump’s policies might affect supplies.

At 5pm, Brent crude oil prices fell by 1.07 per cent to US$74.67 per barrel.

The Fed lowered its benchmark interest rate on Thursday by 25 basis points to a range of 4.50 to 4.75 per cent.

“This follows a larger 50-basis point cut in September, which brought the rate down from a peak of 5.25 to 5.50 per cent for most of 2024,” said the dealer.

She added that Japanese rubber futures climbed on Friday and were headed for a weekly rise, as bets of further stimulus from top consumer China outweighed the threat of a trade war from Donald Trump.

According to the Malaysian Rubber Board, the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) rose by 2.5 sen to 894 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex in bulk fell by six sen to 667.5 per kg.

At 5 pm, SMR 20 stood at 886 sen per kg while latex in bulk was at 660 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA