The Hindu Business Line : Rubber prices almost steady

RUBBER prices ruled almost steady on Monday. The only looser of the day was sheet rubber, which shed Saturday's gain on selling from traders. Buyers kept off as world markets moved down against expectations. All other grades were static and the trading was in a low profile.

RSS 4 moved down to Rs 53.00 against Rs 53.50 on Saturday. At the Bangkok market, RSS 3 was quoted at Rs 56.87 against Rs 56.98 on the last trading day. The January futures for RSS 3 at TOCOM fell to 137.4 yen from 139.4 yen .

The rubber futures turned weak on Monday. The January delivery was quoted at Rs 54.21 (Rs 54.63), February delivery at Rs 56.00 (Rs 56.89), March delivery at Rs 58.01(Rs 58.96), April delivery at Rs 60.76 (Rs 61.50), May delivery at Rs 62.40 (Rs 63.11) and June delivery at Rs 63.49 (Rs 64.06) per kg for RSS 4. The volumes were low.

The Monday spot market rates per kg were as follows:

RSS 4 Rs 53.00 (Rs 53.25); RSS 5 Rs 51.00 (Rs 51.00); ungraded Rs 49.00 (Rs 49.00); ISNR 20 Rs 51.75 (Rs 51.75); latex 60 per cent Rs 40.50 (Rs 40.50).