The ICEX rubber futures declined on Monday. According to observers, the commodity broke below the key near-term support of ₹11,000 per 100 kg during early trades on weak demand amid renewed spat between the US and China.

Meanwhile, the May contracts’ expiry on ICEX has been extended by a week to May 22 since spot markets were not functioning. But traders took advantage of this to stay put in short positions which in fact erased the possibility of a recovery from short covering.

“The front month May is likely to remain under pressure during the days ahead with immediate supports at ₹10,820 and ₹10,600,” a broker said.

“The US threat of trade war with China has dampened the sentiment across markets,” said Ajay Kedia, Director, Kedia Securities.

RSS 4 weakened at it May futures to ₹111.65 (112.58) and June to ₹109.25 (110.46) per kg on the Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX). May contracts were down by 0.83 per cent with a volume of 103 lots and total trade value of ₹114.19 lakhs.

Among other global cues, spot price of SMR20 was down at ₹81.24 and Latex 60% at ₹72.38 per kg in Kuala Lumpur.

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