Kuala lumpur: The Kuala Lumpur rubber market ended lower on Thursday, tracking declines in regional rubber futures markets and a stronger ringgit against the US dollar, said a dealer. The dealer noted that Japanese rubber futures fell on Thursday due to weak supply-demand fundamentals, despite some support from firmer crude oil prices.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, further losses were limited by stronger crude oil prices, as major natural rubber-producing nations continued to experience rains. There is increased confidence that the US Federal Reserve will cut rates next week.

At the time of writing, Brent crude oil was up 0.17 per cent to US$62.84 per barrel. Meanwhile, at the opening on Thursday morning local time, the ringgit was firmer at RM4.11 against the US dollar.

At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 was down by 7.5 sen to 714 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk eased by three sen to 574.5 sen per kg.