TOKYO, May 6 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures fell 3 percent in early Friday trade, hitting a near four-week low, as the yen remained not far from an 18-month high hit earlier this week.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for October delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: was trading down 5.1 yen at 182.4 yen per kg by 0028 GMT, after settling down 7.3 yen on Monday.
It earlier hit a low of 181.4 yen, the lowest since April 11.TOCOM was closed between Tuesday and Thursday due to the Golden Week holidays.
Crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports stood at 13,178 tonnes as of April. 10, up 4.4 percent from the last inventory date, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed on Monday.MARKET NEWS
The U.S. dollar was quoted around 107.34 yen JPY= early on Friday, recovering slightly after hitting an 18-month low of 105.55 plumbed on Tuesday. FRX/
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average .N225 was down 0.1 percent. MKTS/GLOB
Copper fell to its lowest in nearly three weeks on Thursday as the stronger dollar weighed on prices, with a slide below key technical support and concerns about demand adding to the downward pressure.
Oil prices surged on Thursday after a raging wildfire near Canada’s oil sands region curbed output that mainly flows to the United States, before settling off their highs as a rebounding dollar and a huge U.S.stockpile build cut into gains.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
The following data is expected on Friday: (Time in GMT)
– 1230 U.S. Nonfarm payrolls Apr
– 1230 U.S. Unemployment rate Apr
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Richard Pullin)
