Rubber trade slows down

Rubber trade slows down

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Trading in the Singapore rubber market dried up yesterday due to uncertainty over what will happen next in Southeast Asia's volatile financial markets, dealers said.

"The currency problems in the region drove people out of the market. The Indonesians are not keen to sell. If the currency turmoil continues, it'll be a really thin market again tomorrow," a dealer said.

The region has been pounded for weeks by speculative attacks on its currencies. The Thai baht was the first to devalue and the latest victim is the Indonesian rupiah.

The only activity seen was in RSS3 rubber. All other rubber grades were untraded. "What we had this afternoon were some people covering their shorts. That's it," a dealer said.