Spot rubber turned weak on Friday. The market appeared to be deserted owing to a State wide motor workers' strike to protest against the recent hike in fuel price. The trend was partially mixed while the volumes were extremely dull.
According to traders, sheet rubber closed steady at Rs 222 a kg amidst scattered transactions. The grade slipped to Rs 222 (222.50) a kg both at Kottayam and Kochi as reported by the Rubber Board.
In futures, RSS 4 improved at its June series to Rs 223.60 (222.70), July to Rs 227.40 (226.86), August to Rs 226.25 (224.85) and September to Rs 222 (220.39) a kg while the October series finished unchanged at Rs 219.50 (219.50) a kg on the National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE).
RSS 3 (spot) weakened to Rs 230.64 (231.41) a kg at Bangkok. The May futures for the grade increased marginally to ¥405 (Rs 223.20) from ¥404.1 a kg during the day session and then to ¥409.8 (Rs 225.85) a kg in the night session on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM).
Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 222 (222); RSS-5: 220 (221); ungraded: 218 (218); ISNR 20: 213 (214) and latex 60 per cent 133 (133).