TOCOM rubber rises for a second day on supply concerns

TOKYO, July 28 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rose for a second day on Thursday as investors stepped up buying on concerns over possible supply disruptions in Southeast Asia due to bad weather, dealers said. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for January delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: finished 1.6 yen, or 1.0 percent, higher at 158.1 yen ($1.51) per kg. “Speculations that a typhoon may hit Thailand and cause reduction in rubber output sparked buying, especially for the near-term contracts,” said Jiong Gu, an analyst at Yutaka Shoji Co, pointing to a more than 5 percent jump in the September contract and the October contract.

The gains came despite the yen’s rise and weaker oil prices. The dollar fell as much as 0.9 percent to 104.48 yen JPY= on Thursday as expectations faded of the Bank of Japan delivering the radical stimulus package some had expected this week, and after the U.S.Federal Reserve stopped short of flagging a near-term rate rise.

FRX/ A stronger yen makes yen-denominated assets less affordable when purchased in other currencies. Oil prices fell to three-month lows on Thursday as producers continued to pump more than needed, filling inventories, and economic growth prospects darkened.

O/R On the positive side, the most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery SNRcv1 also rose 50 yuan to finish at 11,255 yuan ($1,690.50) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for August delivery STFc1 last traded at 131.8 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.3 cent.