Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian rubber market ended mixed today amidst an uptrend in regional rubber futures markets and gains in crude oil prices, a dealer said. He highlighted that market sentiment was also uplifted by optimism surrounding the latest progress in United States (US)-China trade talks and improved Chinese economic data.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Japanese rubber futures experienced a rise as US and Chinese officials prepared to resume trade talks for a second day in London. Reports indicated that China's exports surged 12.4 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) and 8.1 percent in March and April, respectively, while imports dropped 3.4 percent y-o-y. This was attributed to factories expediting shipments to the US and other international manufacturers in a bid to bypass hefty levies imposed by US President Donald Trump on China and other countries.

However, the potential for further gains was limited by weaker US economic data. It was noted that US seaborne imports of goods from China fell 28.5 percent year-over-year in May, marking the sharpest decline since the pandemic as Trump's 145 percent tariff took effect. Overall, US seaborne imports in May decreased by 7.2 percent from the previous year, totaling 2.18 million.

At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) increased by 11.5 sen to 706.50 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex in bulk fell by 5.0 sen to 590.50 sen per kg.