TOKYO, Dec 25 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures edged lower on Friday in holiday-thinned trading as the yen’s rise to a near two-month high weighed on market sentiment, but the contract managed to book the first weekly gain for three weeks. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for June delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: finished down 1.1 yen, or 0.7 percent, at 163.7 yen ($1.36) per kg, with the dollar down 0.5 percent at 120.27 yen JPY= . For the week, the rubber futures climbed 0.6 percent. “The market was pressured by the slightly stronger yen,” Rakuten Securities commodity analyst, Satoru Yoshida, said.
A stronger Japanese currency makes yen-denominated assets expensive for holders of other currencies. “But many investors were hesitant to take fresh positions ahead of the year-end and while other commodity prices barely moved headed into the Christmas holiday,” Yoshida said, predicting narrow-ranged trade to continue next week.
TOCOM’s last trading day this year is Dec.30 and the exchange will be closed on Dec. 31 and Jan.1 for New Year holiday in Japan.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery SNRcv1 fell 25 yuan to finish at 10,630 yuan ($1,641.75) per tonne. Singapore’s SICOM exchange was closed for Christmas Day.
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($1 = 120.3000 yen) ($1 = 6.4748 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Louise Ireland)
