Tokyo rubber futures inch higher on steady stock prices

TOKYO, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures edged higher on steady stock markets, but trade was thin as investors hesitated to take fresh positions as financial markets in China are closed for national holidays.

FUNDAMENTALS

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for March delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: had risen 1.0 yen, or 0.6 percent, to 166.1 yen ($1.39) per kg by 0109 GMT, after rebounding slightly the previous day. It fell 5.4 percent in September, marking a fourth straight monthly decline. RUB/T
Activity in China’s manufacturing sector contracted for a second straight month in September, an official survey showed on Thursday, adding to signs of weakness in the world’s second-largest economy which are shaking global markets.
Crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports stood at 12,555 tonnes as of Sept. 10, down 5.3 percent from the last inventory date, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed on Thursday.
U.S. companies hired workers at a solid clip in September, but data showed factory activity in the U.S.Midwest contracted, muddying the economic picture for the Federal Reserve on whether to raise interest rates later this year.

MARKET NEWS

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average was up 0.5 percent in Thursday trade, after Wall Street posted gains of 1 percent or more the previous day.
Oil prices ended mixed in volatile trade on Wednesday, with global benchmark Brent up on worries about Russian airstrikes in Syria and U.S.crude down after data showing a surge in domestic inventories.
Copper rose nearly 4 percent to hit its highest in a week on Wednesday, while nickel touched a two-week peak, as bearish investors closed out positions at the quarter-end and ahead of Chinese holidays.
The dollar was up 0.20 percent against the yen just under 120 yen.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)