Rubber Market Ends Mixed

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market ended mixed on Monday amid a weaker ringgit against the US dollar, a dealer said.

He said market sentiment was further lifted by China's central bank liquidity injection to support economic growth and supply concerns arising from seasonal rainfall in major producing countries.

“However, gains were capped by mixed Chinese manufacturing data, weaker sentiment in regional rubber futures markets and lower benchmark crude oil prices, while geopolitical uncertainties in West Asia and ongoing EU-China trade tensions added further pressure,” he told Bernama.

According to the Thai Meteorological Department, Southern Thailand is expected to experience more widespread thundershowers and isolated heavy rain from Nov 4 to 7, he said. 

Meanwhile, he said Japanese rubber futures fell as lower oil prices and weaker Asian shares dampened market sentiment.

“Oil prices dropped more than one per cent amid renewed US-Iran peace talks involving Iranian and Qatari officials,” he added.

He said China's showed a mixed manufacturing industry scenario with the official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) at 49.3, while the private manufacturing sector continued to expand in October with a manufacturing PMI of 52.0. 

At 3 pm, the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) rose by 10 sen to 1,004.0 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex in bulk was down by one sen to 786.50 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA