TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures rose 1 percent to their highest level in more than 7-1/2 months on Thursday, extending gains into a fourth session on a weaker yen amid hopes of further monetary easing in Japan.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for June delivery <0#2JRU:> was up 2.5 yen, or 0.8 percent, at 298.5 yen as of 0032 GMT. The contract earlier rose as high as 299.5 yen, the highest for any benchmark since 302.2 hit on May 9.
* The contract has risen about 15 percent so far this month and 13 percent this year.
* Tokyo rubber futures have been driven higher in recent days as the yem has weakened on expectations that Japan’s new prime minister would pressure the central bank into more forceful monetary easing.
* Toyota Motor Corp expects its global production under the Toyota and Lexus brands to hit 8.7 million vehicles in 2013, nearly the same as the 8.74 million vehicles it expects to have produced in 2012, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.
* Indonesia, one of the world’s top three rubber producers, expects its rubber production to fall 8.8 percent in 2013 from this year, according to agriculture ministry.
MARKET NEWS
* The yen on Thursday traded close to a more than two-year low against the dollar touched in the previous session, reflecting expectations that the new government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will push to weaken Japan’s currency and implement aggressive stimulus.
* The Nikkei share average climbed to a 20-1/2-month high in early trade on Thursday, led by exporters whose earnings benefit from a weaker yen.
* U.S. oil futures rose to their highest in more than nine weeks on Wednesday on hopes that renewed talks will prevent a U.S. fiscal crisis, and as cold weather and technical buying added to the upward momentum.
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Thursday: (Time in GMT)
0500 Japan Construction orders yy Nov 2012
1330 U.S. Jobless claims Weekly
1500 U.S. New home sales Nov
2130 U.S. API weekly crude stocks
2130 U.S. API weekly dist. stocks
2130 U.S. API weekly gasoline stk
2300 S.Korea Industrial output yy Nov 2012
2350 Japan Industrial output prelim mm Nov 2012
N/A Russia HSBC Mfg PMI Dec 2012
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
