The Hindu Business Line : Sheet rubber improves

The physical rubber prices showed a better trend on Tuesday. Sheet rubber improved by 50 paise to Rs 77.50 a kg at Kottayam. But it closed steady at Rs 77 a kg at Kochi lacking fresh support from traders. Rains still disturb the tapping in certain plantation areas, an observer said.

Futures weak

The futures market shed Monday's speculative gains recording heavy losses in all contracts. The December contract for RSS 4 fell back to Rs 76.05 from Rs.79.29 a kg registering 412 (281) tonnes on the MCX.

The December contract for the grade declined sharply to Rs 77.17 (Rs 80.02), January to Rs 76.15 (Rs 78.96), February Rs 77.30 (Rs 80.01) and March to Rs 78.36 (Rs 80.99) per kg on the NMCE. The total volumes were 3,665 (5,914) tonnes.

The open interest for December stood at 1,766 (1,919) lots, January at 2,071 (2,054) lots, February 1,242 (1,165) lots and March at 593 (589) lots.

The December futures for RSS 3 closed 184yen (Rs 70.90) from 183.8 yen a kg at TOCOM, while the grade improved to Rs 67.95 from Rs 66.55 a kg at Bangkok.

The physical rubber prices per kg were: RSS-4: Rs 77.50 (Rs 77); RSS-5: Rs 75.50 (Rs 75); Ungraded: Rs 72.50 (Rs 72); ISNR 20: Rs 75 (Rs 74.50) and Latex 60 per cent: Rs 49.45 (Rs 48.40).