The Hindu Business Line : Rubber crashes on panic selling

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Kottayam March 5 Another steep fall in TOCOM rubber futures weighed heavily on the domestic prices on Monday. The Japanese markets lost ground as bulls began to book losses following sharp declines in oil, gold and other commodity futures. The fall was later catalysed by yen's climb against dollar.

Sheet rubber nosedived to Rs 90 from Rs 94 a kg at Kottayam and Kochi on panic selling from dealers. News that major manufacturers are sitting comfortably on huge imports and the pressure from excess stocks held by certain traders and growers hit the session amidst buyer resistance.

Futures weak

The futures market surrendered sharply over-reacting to the global bear strike. The March contract for RSS 4 moved down to Rs 85 (92.40), April to Rs 88.55 (97.30), May to Rs 93.11 (102.31) and June to Rs 96.22 (105.37) a kg on NMCE. The April and May contacts closed down by the daily limit 9 per cent on heavy selling from traders.

The April contract for the grade finished at Rs 88.09 a kg against Rs 96.57 (358 lots) on MCX.

The April futures for RSS3 fell by the daily limit of 10 Yen to 250.5 Yen (Rs 96.49) from 260.5 Yen a kg at TOCOM.

Spot rubber prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 90 (94); RSS-5: 88 (92); ungraded: 86 (90.50); ISNR 20: 88.50 (90.50) and Latex 60 per cent: 61.05 (62.60).