The Hindu Business Line : Spot rubber crosses Rs 100-mark

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Kottayam Jan. 29 Spot rubber crossed the Rs 100-mark on Monday. RSS 4 closed at Rs 100.50 and Rs 101 a kg respectively at Kottayam and Kochi against Rs 99.50 a kg on Saturday. The market made all-round gains on enquires from the covering groups and purchase agents.

The trend was guided mainly by the strong bull domination in Japanese markets. Domestic supply concerns due to the change in season and the tendency to hold excess stocks among the players and growers also cushioned the market mood, sources said.

Futures gain

On NMCE, the rubber futures recorded moderate gains in all contracts with an improvement in volumes. The February contract finished the trading at Rs 104 (Rs 102.94), March at Rs 106.59 (Rs 105.72), April at Rs 111.19 (Rs 109.85) and May to Rs 115.37 (Rs 113.91) per kg for RSS 4. The turnover improved to 4,042 (2,028) tonnes, while the open interest stood at 11,713 (11,574) tonnes.

On MCX, the February contract for RSS 4 moved up to Rs 105 from Rs 103.06 a kg recording 499 lots for the month against 176 lots on the previous weekend.

The February futures for RSS 3 flared up to 277.5 Yen (Rs 100.73) from 272.9 Yen a kg at TOCOM.

Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 100.50 (99.50); RSS-5: 96 (95.50); ungraded: 93 (93); ISNR 20: 94.50 (93) and latex 60 per cent: 67.35 (66.30).