SINGAPORE, May 2 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures fell to their lowest in nearly two weeks on Monday as the yen soared to an 18-month high versus the dollar and the Nikkei share average slumped 4 percent after the Bank of Japan stood pat on policy last week.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for October delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: fell to 189.30 yen ($1.78) per kg, the lowest since April 19. It was down 2.6 percent at 189.70 yen by 0056 GMT.
Japan’s ‘Golden Week’ public holidays kicked off on Friday, with markets also closed on May 3-5.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average .N225 fell 4 percent early on Monday, while the broader Topix .TOPX shed over 3.5 percent. .T
The yen hit a fresh 18-month high against the U.S.dollar after the BOJ decided to hold monetary policy steady last week, defying market expectations for increased stimulus measures to fight deflation.
The yen posted its biggest weekly gain since the 2008 financial crisis last week.
Chinese markets were closed on Monday.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for September delivery SNRcv1 , closed 0.2-percent lower on Friday at 12,770 yuan ($1,972.57) per tonne.
Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the ShFE rose 1.5 percent from last Friday, the bourse said on Friday.
Vietnam’s natural rubber exports this year could drop 12 percent from 2015 to a six-year low at around 1 million tonnes, as part of the country’s commitment to curb supplies and help stabilise prices, an industry official said on Thursday.
MARKET NEWS
Oil prices dipped in early Asian trade on Monday as rising production in the Middle East outweighed falling U.S.output and the recent slide in the dollar, which has been supporting crude.
Asian shares fell in early trading on Monday.
Several markets in the region were closed on Monday for the Labour day holiday.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0755 Germany Markit/BME manufacturing PMI Apr
0800 Euro zone Markit manufacturing PMI final Apr
1400 U.S. Construction spending Mar
1400 U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI Apr
($1 = 6.4738 Chinese yuan renminbi)
($1 = 106.2900 yen)
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Joseph Radford)
