RUBBER

THE Malaysian rubber market rebounded from Monday’s losses to end higher yesterday, tracking the gains on Tokyo rubber futures market and benchmark oil prices, dealers said.

A dealer said the market was also boosted by a positive report by International Monetary Fund (IMF) on global economic outlook.

“Benchmark rubber futures on Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose today supported by a weakening of yen against US dollar.

“Trading, however, was thin as investors were mostly making position adjustments ahead of the nearest term contracts expiry,” it said.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 rose 7.0 sen to 655 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk gained 10.5 sen at 529 sen a kg.

The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 went up three sen to 646.5 sen a kg, while latexin-bulk addec eight sen to 524.5 sen a kg.