TOKYO, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures fell on Friday following steep declines in Shanghai futures, with the Tokyo contract on track for a weekly drop of more than 3 percent.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: was down 2.9 yen at 237.5 yen per kg at 0138 GMT.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for May delivery SNRcv1 , was down 3.1 percent.
China’s imports grew at the fastest pace in more than two years in November, fuelled by its strong thirst for commodities from coal to iron ore, while exports also rose unexpectedly, reflecting a pick-up in both domestic and global demand.
MARKET NEWS
The U.S. dollar was quoted around 114.16 yen JPY= , compared with around 113.41 yen on Thursday afternoon. USD/
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average .N225 was up 0.7 percent.
Oil prices extended gains on Friday, buoyed by growing optimism that non-OPEC producers might agree to cut output following a cartel agreement to limit production.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
The following data is expected on Friday: (Time in GMT)
0130 China Consumer prices Nov
0130 China Producer prices Nov
0700 Germany Trade data Oct
0745 France Industrial output Oct
1500 U.S. Univ of Michigan sentiment index Dec
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Joseph Radford)
