TOKYO (July 14): Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended up 1.4 percent on Tuesday, paring gains from the morning due to a stronger yen, while the market awaited Chinese growth data due out on Wednesday.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, stood about 4 percent above a 2-1/2-month low hit on Thursday.
Chinese trade data showed a near 20 percent gain in rubber imports from the previous month, but that has not led to an increase in rubber consumption, said a Tokyo-based dealer.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for December delivery <0#2JRU:> finished 2.8 yen higher at 208.6 yen per kg.
The dollar was hovering around 123.37 yen, down from a 12-day high of 123.74 yen hit in the morning.
China’s economic growth is forecast to be the weakest since the global financial crisis in the second quarter, which together with a stock market rout raises pressure on authorities to do more despite little pay-off so far from a run of stimulus steps.
On the Shanghai futures exchange, the contract for January delivery became the new most-active rubber contract on Tuesday in terms of volume. The previous most-active contract for September delivery fell 10 yuan to finish at 12,120 yuan per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 142.2 U.S. cents per kg, down 2.1 cents.
– Reuters
