TOKYO, June 28 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures edged down in thin trade on Tuesday as an overnight slide in oil prices hurt market sentiment and investors continued to digest the implications of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. However, the losses were capped as crude futures rebounded on Tuesday as a looming strike in Norway threatened to cut output in western Europe’s biggest producer.
O/R Crude prices tumbled nearly 3 percent on Monday, with Brent hitting seven-week lows, as a rallying dollar and market uncertainty over Britain’s shocking vote to exit the EU threatened to sap more strength from oil’s rebound this year. Britain’s vote to leave the 28-member bloc last Thursday continued to reverberate through financial markets, with the pound falling to its lowest in 31 years, despite government attempts to calm fears about the political and economic fallout.
The Brexit is still weighing on the market, said a Tokyo-based dealer. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for December delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: finished 0.6 yen, or 0.4 percent, lower at 153.5 yen ($1.50) per kg. “There was no consistent direction in the rubber market,” said Kaname Gokon, strategist, Okato Shoji Co.
“Investors were also reluctant to take fresh positions as the TOCOM and the Shanghai futures were moving in different directions.” The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery SNRcv1 rose 195 yuan to finish at 11,310 yuan ($1,701.44) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for July delivery STFc1 last traded at 133.0 U.S. cents per kg, up 2.5 cents
($1 = 102.2000 yen)
($1 = 6.6473 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
