Asian rubber futures finished slightly higher in light trade Wednesday on expectations of a positive outcome from the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee decision later in the day.
Investors stayed on the sidelines, “keeping their eye on macroeconomic factors” ahead of the statement from the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee, says Gu Jiong, an analyst at Yutaka Shoji.
He says rubber futures broke through a support level Tuesday and prices were now at a level where he expected to seeing buying interest from traders and shippers.
Fed officials are widely expected to keep interest rates on hold near zero Wednesday, but market participants will be watching for any clues about the timetable for a potential rate increase. Such a move would likely lead to an appreciation of the U.S. dollar, weighing on commodity prices denominated in the currency.
The Tokyo benchmark April contract ended up 1.1 yen at Y159.8($1.33) a kilogram.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 25 yuan to settle at CNY10,810($1,700) a metric ton.
Asian Rubber Futures
October 28 Change from previous close
Tocom Apr RSS3 Y159.8/Kg Up Y1.1
Shanghai Jan SCR5 CNY10,810/ton Down CNY25
Thai May RSS3 THB47.30/Kg Up THB0.75
Sicom Nov RSS3 125.5 US cents/Kg Up 2.5 US cents/Kg
Sicom Mar TSR20 119.6 US cents/Kg Up 1.1 US cents/Kg
Asian Physical Rubber
Grade Shipment Oct 28 Oct 27
RSS3 Nov/Dec 125-126 125-126
STR20 Nov/Dec 124-135 124-135
SIR20 Nov/Dec 125-119 125-119
SMR20 Nov/Dec 124-125 124-125
SVR3L Nov 131 131
USS Nov THB38.63-THB39.29/Kg THB39.13-THB39.75/Kg
By Vibhuti Agarwal
