Date:26/05/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/05/26/stories/2007052600600700.htm

Back Spot rubber rules firm

Aravindan

Kottayam May 25 Physical rubber prices closed firm on Friday. RSS 4 improved to Rs 92 a kg from 91.50 a kg at Kottayam. The grade closed unchanged at Rs 92 a kg at Kochi.

The market made moderate gains as sellers kept an extremely low profile on supply fears. The volumes were low.

Futures weak

The rubber futures turned weak on NMCE. The June contract moved down to Rs 91.80 (92.41), July to Rs 93.15 (93.52), August to Rs 92 (92.65) and September to Rs 89.90 (90.45) per kg for RSS 4. The June contract for the grade declined to Rs 91.71(92.29) a kg on MCX.

The volumes totalled 1,648 (1,486) lots on NMCE. The open interest was 7,521 (7,439) tonnes with 3,884 (3,892) tonnes in June, 2,853 (2,791) tonnes in July, 660 (636) tonnes in August and 124 (120) tonnes in September.

June futures for RSS 3 closed at 297.7 yen (Rs 99.56) against 297.4 yen a kg at TOCOM. The grade was almost steady at Rs 98.80 (98.81) a kg at Bangkok.

Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 92 (91.50); RSS-5: 90.50 (90); ungraded: 89 (88.50); ISNR 20: 90.25 (90) and latex 60 per cent: 64.70 (64.70).