Kuala lumpur: The Kuala Lumpur rubber market finished lower on Friday, pressured by falling benchmark crude oil prices and weak regional rubber futures, a trader said.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, oil prices fell further today after tumbling nearly three per cent in the previous session, as forecasts of a sizeable supply surplus and rising inventories weighed on sentiment. At the time of writing, Brent crude fell 0.28 per cent to US$67.33 a barrel.

Japanese rubber futures declined for a third straight session on Friday as liquidity thinned ahead of a week-long holiday in China. The trader noted that market sentiment was further weighed down by escalating Middle East tensions and declining electric vehicle (EV) sales globally.

Media reports indicate that the United States is deploying a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s data showed that global EV registrations fell three per cent year-on-year in January due to reduced subsidies in China and US policy changes.

Nevertheless, losses were limited by positive US economic data and expected steady US inflation data. At 3 pm, the Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 dropped 7.5 sen to 757 sen per kilogramme (kg) while latex-in-bulk slipped by one sen at 578.5 sen per kg.

The Kuala Lumpur rubber market will be closed from Monday, Feb 16, to Wednesday, Feb 18, for the Chinese New Year holiday and will resume trading on Thursday, Feb 19.