Thai rubber futures contracts closed steady in thin trade on Thursday as traders were reluctant to unwind contracts after profit-taking pulled prices down in the past few days, traders said.
Overall volume dropped, with only 48 contracts of ribbed smoked sheet number three (RSS3) traded, compared with 115 contracts on Wednesday.
The most active April contract fell for the third consecutive session as it settled at 52.0 baht/kg, down from 52.1 with the number of contracts traded falling to 24 from 37.
Another active December contract ended steady at 51.8 baht/kg with traded contracts up at 20 from one.
The January contract was also steady in both price and number of contracts traded.
It finished at 51.8 baht per kg with 4 contracts traded. Prices are expected to rebound in the coming week because rising oil prices will push up the cost of synthetic rubber, a petrochemical product, and spur demand for natural rubber, brokers said.
"Players felt reluctant to take positions, as prices should climb up due to high oil prices," said on broker. Still, the direction was still unclear with some traders believing there would be more downside due to the spate of profit taking, he said.
The price of unsmoked sheet number three (USS3), the raw material for export-grade rubber sheet, was at 47.43 baht/kg, down from 47.52 on Wednesday.
On Thailand's Hat Yai physical market, RSS3 was quoted at 49.10 baht/kg, down from 49.22. On Singapore's SICOM, RSS3 December contract was steady at $1.26 per kg.
Thailand, the world's biggest natural rubber producer and exporter launched its first commodity futures exchange in May, allowing brokers to trade in RSS3. November, December, January, February, March and April contracts were offered.
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