RUBBER MARKET ENDS MIXED AMID ABSENCE OF CHINA PLAYERS

By Engku Shariful Azni Engku Ab Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian rubber market closed mixed on Friday in thin trading amid the absence of China players, a dealer said.

However, she said the Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 price were seen to track losses in regional rubber futures markets due to increased concerns of implications from the US tariffs announced.

“Declines in oil prices further compounded negative sentiment.

“Nevertheless, further losses were capped by natural rubber (NR) supply disruption from major NR producing countries from the onset of wintering season and hopes for US interest rate cuts,” she told Bernama.

Meanwhile, the dealer said the oil prices extended losses today after tumbling in the previous session, as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus (OPEC+) agreed to speed up output increases by 411,000 barrels per day, while US President Donald Trump's new sweeping tariffs further eroded market sentiment.

At the time of writing, the price of Brent crude oil dropped 3.35 per cent to US$67.82 per barrel.

At 3pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the SMR 20 price decreased by 16 sen to 836.5 sen per kilogramme, while the price of latex in bulk inched up by 2.0 sen to 668 sen per kilogramme.

-- BERNAMA