TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rose on Friday, snapping a five-session losing streak, helped by a rally in stocks and a weaker yen, but the contract booked a second weekly drop amid persistent worries over lower demand in top buyer China. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for March delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: finished 1.6 yen, or 1 percent, higher at 165.7 yen ($1.38) per kg. For the week, the TOCOM futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, fell 3.8 percent. “Stronger Nikkei stock index and yen’s fall lent support to the market,” said a Tokyo-based dealer.
Japanese stocks rose on Friday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signalled that new stimulus measures could come as early as December, boosting riskier assets. .T Against the yen, the U.S. dollar touched a one-month high of 120.99 JPY= .A weaker yen makes yen-denominated assets more affordable when purchased in other currencies.
“Some investors also looked for bargains after five straight sessions of losses and ahead of the weekend,” the dealer said. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for January delivery SNRcv1 rose 95 yuan to finish at 11,310 yuan ($1,781.44) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for November delivery STFc1 last traded at 126.0 U.S. cents per kg, up 1.2 cent.
($1 = 6.3488 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 120.4900 yen)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
