TOKYO, Dec 22 (Reuters) – New benchmark Tokyo rubber futures fell in thin trade on Thursday, mirroring a plunge in Shanghai futures and ahead of a Japanese national holiday on Friday, with the contract ending the week lower, its first drop in three weeks. Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, came under pressure also due to weaker oil prices, dealers said.
Weaker oil prices hurt investor risk appetite for other commodities, including rubber. Oil prices slipped in tepid Asian trading on Thursday, dragged down by an unexpected rise in U.S.crude inventories last week and moves by Libya to boost output over the next few months.
O/R The new TOCOM rubber contract for June delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: finished at 266.2 yen ($2.26) per kg, down 4.3 yen, or 1.6 percent, from an opening price of 270.5 yen. For the week, it lost 6.1 percent. “The TOCOM pared earlier gains as Shanghai lost ground,” said Satoru Yoshida, commodity analyst at Rakuten Securities.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery SNRcv1 tumbled 690 yuan to finish at 18,540 yuan ($2,668.97) per tonne. “The Tokyo benchmark has fallen below a key 270 yen mark, which suggests that it has entered an adjustment period after the sharp rally in the past few months,” Yoshida said.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for January delivery STFc1 last traded at 189.9 U.S. cents per kg, down 3.5 cent.
($1 = 6.9465 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 117.5600 yen)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)
