The Hindu Business Line : Rubber declines as buyers keep away

A BEARISH trend prevailed in the spot rubber market while all the grades moved down on Friday. As rains retreated giving scope to intensified tapping, buyers appeared unwilling to enlarge their commitments.

RSS 4 closed at Rs 51.50 against Rs 52.25 a kg on Thursday. After remaining firm at Rs 51 for a few sessions, ISNR 20 also lost as exporters stayed back.

Though the market experienced some selling pressure from growers and traders during the past few days, they were reluctant to sell at the current lower levels.

The NMCE futures were almost steady on Friday.

The October delivery was quoted at Rs 53.17 (53.53), November at Rs 52.90 (52.95), December at Rs 53.14 (53.21) and January delivery at Rs 54.30 (54.32) per kg for RSS 4.

The market opened steady and moved in a narrow range with moderate volumes.

The November futures at TOCOM for RSS 3 weakened to 140.8 Yen against 141.4 yen a kg on Thursday.

The spot market rates per kg follow: RSS 4 51.50 (52.25); RSS 5 50 (50.50); ungraded 47.50 (48.75); ISNR 20 50 (51); and latex 60% 38.50 (39).