TOKYO, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures rose nearly two percent on Thursday, nearing a five-month high hit earlier this month, supported by an overnight gain in Shanghai futures.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for April delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: was up 3.3 yen, or 1.8 percent, at 182.3 yen ($1.74) per kg as of 0018 GMT, recovering the key 180 yen mark and heading toward the highest since May of 184.6 yen touched on Oct.17.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery SNRcv1 climbed 345 yuan to 14,175 yuan ($2,093.61) per tonne in an overnight trade.
French carmaker PSA (FR0000121501) reported a 5.1 percent drop in third-quarter revenue, hurt by plunging sales in China and a weaker European performance by its Peugeot and Citroen brands.
The Bank of Japan is likely to hold off on expanding stimulus next week despite an expected downgrade in its price forecast that may show Governor Haruhiko Kuroda won’t see inflation hit his 2 percent target before his tenure ends in 2018.
MARKET NEWS
Oil settled down more than 1 percent on Wednesday even after a surprise drawdown in U.S.crude inventories, as traders remained cautious that OPEC would be able to cut production come late November.
The U.S. dollar was up 0.29 percent against the yen at 104.52 yen JPY= in early Thursday, but off a roughly three-month high of 104.87 yen touched on Tuesday, amid nervousness surrounding the U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy and the U.S. election USD/
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average (XC0009692440) inched lower on Thursday after Apple’s results weighed on U.S.stock prices the previous day.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
The following data is expected on Thursday: (Time in GMT)
0830 Britain Preliminary GDP Q3
1230 U.S. Durable goods Sep
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1400 U.S. Pending homes sales Sep
($1 = 104.6300 yen)
($1 = 6.7706 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Richard Pullin)
