RUBBER MARKET ENDS LOWER ON FALLING OIL PRICES, WEAK REGIONAL RUBBER FUTURES

By Muhammad Fawwaz Thaqif Nor Afandi

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market finished lower on Friday, pressured by falling benchmark crude oil prices and weak regional rubber futures, a trader said. 

She said oil prices fell further today after tumbling nearly three per cent in the previous session, as forecasts of a sizeable supply surplus and rising inventories weighed on sentiment.

At the time of writing, Brent crude fell 0.28 per cent to US$67.33 a barrel.

She said that Japanese rubber futures declined for a third straight session on Friday as liquidity thinned ahead of a week-long holiday in China.

The trader said market sentiment was further weighed down by escalating Middle East tensions and declining electric vehicle (EV) sales globally.

“According to media reports, the United States (US) is deploying a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran.

“Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s data showed that global EV registrations fell three per cent year-on-year in January due to reduced subsidies in China and US policy changes,” she added.

Nevertheless, losses were limited by positive US economic data and expected steady US inflation data.

At 3 pm, the Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 dropped 7.5 sen to 757 sen per kilogramme (kg) while latex-in-bulk slipped by one sen at 578.5 sen per kg.

The Kuala Lumpur rubber market will be closed from Monday, Feb 16, to Wednesday,  Feb 18, for the Chinese New Year holiday and will resume trading on Thursday, Feb 19.

-- BERNAMA