TOKYO, June 8 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures slid on Wednesday, hovering near a 10-day low hit on Monday, as an overnight drop in Shanghai futures weighed on market sentiment while the firm yen added to pressure.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for November delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: was down 0.7 yen, or 0.5 percent, at 156.3 yen ($1.46) per kg by 0041 GMT, after falling 1.5 percent the previous day. It earlier hit a low of 155.6 yen, near the Monday’s bottom of 155.0 yen which marked the lowest since May 25.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery SNRcv1 fell 255 yuan overnight to 10,370 yuan ($1,578.15) per tonne.
Global natural rubber output could rise just 0.3 percent in 2016 from a year ago as a drop in yields are seen offsetting expansion in the tapping area, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The World Bank cut its 2016 global growth forecast on Wednesday to 2.4 percent from the 2.9 percent estimated in January due to stubbornly low commodity prices, sluggish demand in advanced economies, weak trade and diminishing capital flows.
Japan’s economy expanded at a 1.9 percent annualised rate in the first quarter of this year, revised up from a preliminary reading of 1.7 percent growth, Cabinet Office data showed on Wednesday.
MARKET NEWS
The U.S. dollar was flat at 107.315 yen JPY= off the one-month low of 106.35 touched on Monday but still a long way away from the recent peak of 111.455 scaled at the end of May.A stronger yen makes yen-denominated assets less affordable when purchased in other currencies.
Oil prices jumped more than 1 percent on Tuesday, hitting 2016 highs, with U.S.crude settling above $50 a barrel the first time in almost a year, on expectations of domestic stockpile draws and worries about global supply shortfalls from attacks on Nigeria’s oil industry.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average (XC0009692440) edged lower on Wednesday despite gains in Wall Street the previous day.The S&P 500 ended at its best level since July the previous day, helped by a jump in energy shares and investor confidence that higher interest rates will not derail the economy.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
The following data is expected on Wednesday: (Time in GMT)
China Trade data May 0830 Britain Industrial output Apr 1400 U.S. JOLTS job openings Apr
No exact timing for China trade data
($1 = 6.5710 Chinese yuan renminbi)
($1 = 107.0400 yen)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Michael Perry)
