The Hindu Business Line : Spot rubber gains sharply

Kottayam March 23 Spot rubber moved up sharply on Friday. Though global futures were almost steady with minor variations, a bull run in Bangkok spot prices, which took RSS 3 up by 158 paise to Rs 100.07 a kg from Rs 98.47, catalysed the domestic mood, sources said.

Sheet rubber RSS 4 shot up to Rs 93 from Rs 90 a kg at Kottayam and Kochi. The under current was extremely bullish as covering groups and buyers from the futures markets turned aggressive. They appeared to be expecting the prices to move up further on Saturday as usual in the absence of global guidance.

Futures improve

The rubber futures continued to make handsome gains in leading commodity exchanges. On MCX, the April contract was traded at Rs 95.16 against Rs 94.33 a kg for RSS 4.

The grade improved at its April contract to Rs 94.23 (92.65), May Rs 98.25 (96.93), June Rs 101.43 (99.96) and July to Rs 103.35 (101.78) a kg on NMCE.

The open interest stood at 12,398 (12,283) lots with 4,912 in April, 5,342 in May, 1,786 in June and 358 lots in July. The volumes totalled 3,490 (3,031) tonnes.

The April futures for RSS 3 closed at 268.2 yen (Rs 99.22) against 267.9 yen a kg at TOCOM.

Spot rubber prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 93 (90); RSS-5: 92.50 (89.50);

Ungraded: 91.50 (88.50); ISNR 20: 92 (89) and Latex 60 per cent: 64.20 (64.20).