Rubber Witness Steady Trend

Kottayam: Spot rubber finished steady in the New Year session though the global markets were on holidays. RSS 4 closed flat but strong at Rs 96 a kg at Kottayam as on Saturday. The trend was mixed but the under current was visibly optimistic as most of the grades including latex gained amidst better demand and low supply. The rubber futures opened higher but profit booking at higher levels pruned the gains partially on NMCE. The market finished in a mixed mood. The January contract concluded at Rs 99.86 (Rs 99.79), February at Rs 102.60 (Rs 102.93), March at Rs 106.16 (Rs 105.83) and April at Rs 109.01 (Rs 108.31) per kg for RSS 4. The transactions totalled 7,243 (5,773) tonnes and open interest 8,657 (8,379) tonnes. The January contract for RSS 4 improved to Rs 101.36 a kg from Rs 100.14 a kg on MCX. Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 96 (96); RSS-5: 92 (91.50); ungraded: 88.75 (87.50); ISNR 20: 93.00 (90.50) and latex 60 per cent: 67.35 (65.25).