Kuala lumpur: The Malaysian rubber market ended lower today, weighed down by declining benchmark crude oil prices and a stronger ringgit against the US dollar, amid weaker cues from regional rubber futures markets, a dealer said. Market sentiment was further dampened by growing uncertainty over United States trade policy, interest rates, and weaker Chinese auto sales data.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, further losses were capped by optimism over an end to the prolonged US government shutdown and signs of easing US-China trade tensions. Meanwhile, oil prices declined on Tuesday as markets weighed the risk of a looming supply glut, while some resilience in the dollar also weighed on prices. At the time of writing, Brent crude oil slid 0.05 percent to US$64.18 per barrel.

At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) was down by 1.5 sen to 722 sen per kilogramme, while latex-in-bulk inched down by half a sen to 570 sen per kg.