TOKYO (Aug 20): Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rose on Thursday, recovering from a 10-month low hit in the previous day, as investors booked profits after four consecutive sessions of losses, but nagging worries about China’s economy and equities capped the gains.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for January delivery <0#2JRU:> finished 1.0 yen, or 0.5 percent, higher at 184.6 yen ($1.49) per kg, bouncing back from an earlier low of 182.2 yen. It hit a low of 182.0 yen on Wednesday, the lowest since Oct. 17, 2014.
“The market has been oversold. What we saw today was an autonomous recovery,” a Tokyo-based dealer said.
The TOCOM futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, had lost about 26 percent by Wednesday since touching a high of 247.9 yen in early June.
“We may see some more corrections through early next week, but the overall market sentiment is expected to remain weak given persistent fears over China’s slowing demand and slumping stock prices,” the dealer said.
China stocks tumbled again in late trading on Thursday, underscoring fragile investor confidence in the market as worries about the world’s second-largest economy persist.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 90 yuan to finish at 11,880 yuan ($1,859.88) per tonne, retreating from a high of 12,150 yuan hit earlier.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for September delivery last traded at 129.6 U.S. cents per kg, down 1.0 cent.
($1 = 123.8300 yen)
($1 = 6.3875 Chinese yuan)
