Rubber Improves On Buying

Kottayam: Physical rubber rates closed almost steady except ungraded rubber, which improved sharply to Rs 91 a kg from Rs 89.50 on aggressive buying from the north Indian sector. RSS 4 closed unchanged at Rs 98 a kg at Kottayam, while it improved by 50 paise to the same rate at Kochi. The February contract on NMCE weakened to Rs 101.30 (Rs 101.82), March contract to Rs 104.40 (Rs 104.91), April to Rs 108.20 (Rs 108.89) and May to Rs 112.30 (Rs 112.67) per kg for RSS 4. The volumes totalled 4,361 (3,239) tonnes and open interest 10,856 (10,549) tonnes. The February contract for the grade slipped to Rs 101.90 from Rs 102.82 a kg (159 lots) on MCX. RSS 3 flared up at its February futures to 263.4 Yen (Rs 95.81) a kg from 256.4 Yen at TOCOM. But the grade declined to Rs 94.94 against Rs 96.90 a kg at Bangkok spot.