By Lucy Craymer
Rubber futures closed lower across Asia on disappointment that the Bank of Japan did not announce a further extension of its stimulus package following the conclusion of its two day meeting on Tuesday.
There was some positioning in play that saw a number of markets react negatively to the central bank holding firm. Gu Jiong, an analyst at Yutaka Shoji, said the rubber futures market was one of those to see weakness.
Furthermore, he said continued fragility in China’s stock market — with the Shanghai Composite Index sliding 3.5% to close at 3,005.17 — was not helping investors who were concerned about what impact slowing growth in China would have on demand for the product.
However, the December Tocom benchmark rubber contract pared some of the session’s losses to end up Y1.2 at Y170.8 a kilogram in the night session, which is considered part of the next day of trading.
Asian Rubber Futures
Sept 15 Change from previous close
Tocom Feb RSS3 Y169.5/Kg Down Y6.8
Shanghai Jan SCR5 CNY11,620/Ton Down CNY200
Thai Apr RSS3 THB50.40/Kg Down THB50.40
Sicom Nov RSS3 US 134.0/Kg Down US 2.9 cents
Sicom Nov TSR20 US 124.0/Kg Down US 1.5 cents
Asian Physical Rubber
Grade Shipment Sept 15 Sept 14
RSS3 Oct/Nov 132/133 135-136
STR20 Oct/Nov 130/131 133-134
SIR20 Oct/Nov 124/125 126-126
SMR20 Oct/Nov 129/130 132-133
SVR3L Oct 138 138
USS Sep THB THB43.89-THB44.89/Kg THB44.99-THB45.22/Kg
