TOKYO, April 28 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures edged lower on Thursday, weighed down by an overnight drop in Shanghai futures and position adjustments ahead of a Bank of Japan policy decision and a string of public holidays in Japan.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for October delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: was down 2.3 yen, or 1.1 percent, at 198.6 yen ($1.78) per kg by 0050 GMT.It had fallen from a fresh nine-month high the previous day.
RUB/T
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for September delivery SNRcv1 , dropped more than 2 percent in overnight trade to 12,680 yuan per tonne.
The Federal Reserve left U.S. interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, but kept the door open to a hike in June while showing little sign it was in a hurry to tighten monetary policy amid an apparent slowdown in the U.S.economy.
The BOJ is expected to increase its stimulus measures in a bid to weaken the yen.The BOJ’s policy decision is often announced around noon in Japan, or 0300 GMT.
MKTS/GLOB
Japan’s consumer prices fell in March at the fastest pace in three years and household spending declined at the fastest pace in a year, keeping the BOJ under pressure to implement more stimulus to support the economy.
Japan’s ‘Golden Week’ public holidays kick off on Friday, with markets also closed on May 3, 4 and 5.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co (GT) , the largest U.S.tyre maker, reported a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly revenue, hurt by lower tire sales in the Americas, its largest market.
Activity in China’s manufacturing sector likely expanded
modestly in April for the second month in a row, a Reuters poll showed, adding to hopes that a prolonged downturn in the world’s second-largest economy is easing.The data is due on May 1.MARKET NEWS
Oil prices jumped about 3 percent on Wednesday, hitting new highs for 2016 as the dollar weakened after the Fed announced it would leave U.S.interest rates unchanged.
O/R
The yen remained subdued ahead of a policy decision by the BOJ on Thursday. The greenback was at 111.60 yen JPY= , not far from a three-week high of 111.90 set recently. FRX/
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average (XC0009692440) was up 1.3 percent in Thursday trade, after the U.S.Fed offered few clues on its monetary policy outlook.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
The following data is expected on Thursday: (Time in GMT)
0755 Germany Unemployment rate Apr
0900 Euro zone Business climate Apr
1200 Germany Consumer prices Apr
1230 U.S. GDP advance Q1
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims Japan The Bank of Japan policy statement
($1 = 111.5500 yen)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Joseph Radford)
