TOKYO, May 20 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures traded near a two-and-a-half month low on Friday, as the market came under pressure from an overnight decline in Shanghai futures.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for October delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: fell 0.4 yen to 161.4 yen per kg by 0037 GMT. The benchmark contract, which hit 159.2 yen in overnight trade, the lowest since March 2, is set to post a drop of about 7 percent for the week.
MARKET NEWS
The U.S. dollar was quoted around 109.97 yen JPY= , down from near a three-week high of 110.20 yen on Thursday afternoon.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average .N225 was down 0.1 percent.
Copper slumped to a three-month low on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar, the potential for a U.S.interest rate increase next month and worries about lacklustre demand.
Oil prices settled largely unchanged on Thursday as worries about Canadian and Nigerian supply outages offset the impact of a stronger dollar, which has rallied on growing expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month. O/R
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
The following data is expected on Friday: (Time in GMT)
– 0800 Euro Zone Current Account Mar
– 1400 U.S. Existing Home Sales Apr
– 1430 U.S. ECRI weekly index
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Joseph Radford)
