Kuala lumpur: The Malaysian rubber market closed lower on Monday, influenced by regional rubber futures losses and a decrease in crude oil prices, a dealer reported.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Japanese rubber futures mirrored the decline in oil prices, contributing to the downward trend. The drop in oil prices was triggered by OPEC+’s announcement of a larger-than-expected output increase for August, which surprised markets. At the time of writing, Brent crude prices had fallen by 0.13% to US$68.21 per barrel.

The dealer noted that market sentiment was further dampened by ongoing uncertainties surrounding United States trade tariffs and the conflict in the Middle East. Despite these challenges, potential losses were somewhat contained by a weaker ringgit against the US dollar and indications of recovery in the automotive sector. Reports indicated that production and sales in the automobile industry showed improvement both month-on-month and year-on-year in the first half of 2025.

At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board recorded a decrease in the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) by 11.0 sen to 700.00 sen per kilogramme. Additionally, latex in bulk dropped by 6.0 sen to 565.50 sen per kilogramme.