Rubber fell for the first time in four days, paring a weekly gain, as China’s inflation accelerated and its auto sales missed a forecast, damping demand.
Rubber for delivery in June declined 0.4 percent to end at 312.2 yen a kilogram ($3,505 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, trimming the weekly advance to 1.4 percent.
China’s stocks fell after a report showing inflation accelerated more than forecast, limiting room for monetary easing to support an economic recovery. Auto sales in China rose 4.3 percent last year, missing official projections, after local governments restricted purchases to control congestion and consumers shunned Japanese cars amid a territorial dispute.
“Accelerating inflation and lower-than-expected car sales in China spurred selling ahead of three-day holidays in Tokyo,” Chaiwat Muenmee, an analyst at DS Futures Co., said from Bangkok.
China’s consumer prices rose 2.5 percent in December from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. That compares with the 2.3 percent median estimate of 42 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News and a 2 percent pace in November.
Total vehicle sales in China climbed to 19.3 million units in 2102, according to data released by the state-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers today. That compares with the group’s forecast in July for full-year deliveries to rise 5 percent to 8 percent and reach 20 million.
Rubber for delivery in May fell 1.9 percent to close at 25,710 yuan ($4,137) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Thai rubber free-on-board added 0.1 percent to 102.70 baht ($3.39) a kilogram today, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.
Source: Blommberg
