KUALA LUMPUR The Malaysian rubber market ended mostly lower despite the jump in crude oil prices and the firmer Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
A dealer said US oil prices recovered more than 2%, from a three-month low, supported by a surprise drawdown in stocks that showed a 531,000 barrels decline in crude supplies for the week ended March 10.
At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Boards official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 dipped 1.5 sen to 881.5 sen a kg while latex-in-bulk decreased 7.5 sen to 731 sen a kg.
The unofficial closing price at 5pm for tyre-grade SMR 20 increased 12.5 sen to 872 sen a kg and latex-in-bulk fell 5.5 sen to 729.5 sen a kg.
