Rubber witnesses steady trend

Physical rubber prices closed steady on May 25. RSS 4 improved to Rs 92 a kg from 91.50 a kg at Kottayam. The grade closed unchanged at Rs 92 a kg at Kochi. The rubber futures turned weak on NMCE. The June contract declined to Rs 91.80 (92.41), July to Rs 93.15 (93.52), August to Rs 92 (92.65) and September to Rs 89.90 (90.45) per kg for RSS 4. The June contract for the grade declined to Rs 91.71(92.29) a kg on MCX. The open interest was 7,521 (7,439) tonnes with 3,884 (3,892) tonnes in June, 2,853 (2,791) tonnes in July, 660 (636) tonnes in August and 124 (120) tonnes in September. June futures for RSS 3 closed at 297.7 yen (Rs 99.56) against 297.4 yen a kg at TOCOM. Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 92 (91.50); RSS-5: 90.50 (90); ungraded: 89 (88.50); ISNR 20: 90.25 (90) and latex 60 per cent: 64.70 (64.70).