TOKYO, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures extended losses into a second session on Wednesday, with investors continuing to book profits from a recent rally and following an overnight drop in Shanghai futures. Data on China’s GDP due later the day was also in focus.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for March delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: was down 1.8 yen, or 1.0 percent, at 181.2 yen ($1.74) per kg as of 0027 GMT, after losing 0.7 yen the day before. RUB/T
Fueled by government spending and a housing frenzy, China’s economic growth likely steadied at 6.7 percent in the third quarter, but slumping private investment, surging debt and the risk of a property correction are keeping the government and global investors on edge.
OPEC should be able to reach a deal next month to limit oil production without too many exemptions for individual countries and without too much disagreement about output levels, the producer group’s secretary general said on Tuesday.
Crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports stood at 8,034 tonnes as of Sept. 30, up 2.9 percent from the last inventory date, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed on Tuesday.
Honda Motor Co (HNDAF) plans to build a new factory in China that will produce passenger cars from 2019, boosting its output capacity in the country by about a fifth, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
MARKET NEWS
The yen JPY= was little moved at 103.87 yen to the dollar in early Wednesday trade. USD/
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average (XC0009692440) was steady
on Wednesday after Wall Street got a lift the previous day from encouraging corporate earnings and investors wagered a coming barrage of Chinese data would confirm the economy had at least stabilised. MKTS/GLOB
Oil prices settled up on Tuesday on expectations of OPEC output curbs, then extended gains in post-settlement trade as an industry group’s data showed an unexpected draw in U.S.crude inventories last week.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
The following data is expected on Wednesday: (Time in GMT)
0200 China GDP Q3
0200 China Industrial output Sept
0200 China Retail sales Sept
0830 UK Jobless rate (ILO) Aug
1230 US Housing starts Sept
($1 = 103.9200 yen)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Joseph Radford)
