TOKYO, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures inched down on Thursday, hurt by a stronger yen and a fall in Japanese equities. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for March delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: finished 0.2 yen lower at 171.8 yen per kg, marking a second straight day of losses. “With Japan equities down and a stronger yen, buying momentum fizzled,” a source with a Tokyo-based dealer said.
Japan’s Nikkei (XC0009692440) ended down 1 percent, stalling after six days of gains, as weak machinery orders data stoked uncertainty about the economic outlook. .T The U.S. dollar was quoted around 119.91 yen JPY= compared with around 120.00 yen on Wednesday afternoon.A stronger yen makes Japanese currency-denominated assets more expensive when purchased in other currencies.
Shanghai futures jumped more than 3 percent at the open after a week-long holidays in China, playing catch-up with a 4 percent gain in benchmark TOCOM futures during that time, but the contract has lost some upward momentum hurt by weak TOCOM, the source with the Tokyo dealer said. Futures for January delivery, the most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange SNRcv1 , rose 210 yuan to finish at 11,510 yuan per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange STFc1 last traded at 124.8 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.7 cent.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori)
