Rubber Witnesses Steady Trend

Kottayam: The weekend saw firm closing in physical rubber prices. Sheet rubber increased to Rs 86.75 a kg from Rs 86 a kg, while the trend remained mixed and the volumes better. The repeated assurances of Rubber Board Chairman against rubber imports instilled confidence in traders. The rubber futures gathered momentum extending on April 20, gains on fresh buying and short covering on NMCE. The May contract improved to Rs 88.38 (86.94), June to Rs 91.78 (90.19), July to Rs 94.08 (92.36) and August to Rs 93.92 (91.98) per kg for RSS 4. The May contract firmed up to Rs 89.31 from Rs 87.79 a kg on MCX. Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 86.75 (86); RSS-5: 85.50 (85); ungraded: 84.75 (84); ISNR 20: 85.25 (85.25) and latex 60 per cent: 63.65 (63.65).