The Hindu Business Line : Feb rubber contracts top Rs 100/kg

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Kottayam Jan. 25 Spot rubber made yet another sharp come back on Thursday. Further gains in overseas markets owing to fresh buying and short covering added strength to sentiments.

Supply fears kept covering groups and purchase agents more active since the peak production season is very close to its finishing line. RSS 4 rose to Rs 99.50 a kg from 98.50 both at Kottayam and Kochi. The shrinking gap between the international and domestic prices also fuelled the bull run, sources said.

Futures better

On NMCE, the rubber futures turned better adding handsome gains in all contracts. The February contract improved to Rs 102.32 (Rs 100.79), March to Rs 105.21 (Rs 103.82), April to Rs 109.55 (Rs 107.92) and May to Rs 113.50 (Rs 111.79) per kg for RSS 4. The volumes were better at 3,652 (2,656) tonnes and open interest 11,434 (11,300) tonnes.

On MCX, the February contract for RSS 4 firmed up to Rs 102.06 from Rs 101.11 a kg recording 303 (252) lots for the month. There has been mild profit booking at higher levels towards close.

The February futures for RSS 3 closed higher at 269.3 Yen (Rs 98.78) against 265.4 Yen a kg at TOCOM. The grade (spot) finished better at Rs 97.86 a kg against Rs 97.25 at Bangkok.

Physical prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 99.50 (98.50); RSS-5:95 (94.50); ungraded: 91.50 (91); ISNR 20: 92 (91) and latex 60 per cent: 65.25 (65.25).