TOKYO, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Key TOCOM rubber futures ended down 1.3 percent after touching a fresh eight-month high on Monday, snapping a sixth-session winning streak, as yen weakness paused and stock prices dipped, triggering profit taking.
“Investors have become cautious after the benchmark contract rose above 300 yen, but we expect the market to resume rising if share prices rise,” said Satoru Yoshida, an analyst at trading house Dot Commodity.
The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for June delivery settled down 1.3 percent or 4.1 yen at 303.7 yen per kg.
The most active Shanghai rubber contract for May delivery closed down 1 percent at 26,075 yuan per tonne.
The front-month February rubber contract on the SICOM in Singapore was last traded at 300 U.S. cents per kg, down 1.8 percent.
Asian stocks drifted down on Monday as investors booked profits from a New Year rally that had pushed markets to multi-month highs, although financial stocks gained after global regulators decided to relax draft plans for tough new bank liquidity rules.
Brent crude futures held above $111 per barrel on Monday, supported by signs that the world’s biggest economies are on a steady recovery path, but inventory data showing weak fuel demand in the United States curbed gains.
U.S. employers kept up an even pace of hiring and the country’s vast services sector expanded briskly, reports on Friday showed. Coupled with earlier data showing expansion in the manufacturing sector in the United States and China, this reinforced expectations for buoyant oil demand this year.
The dollar slipped against the yen on Monday but remained near a 2-1/2-year high.
(Reporting by Yuko Inoue; Editing by Anand Basu)
Reuters
