TOKYO (Jan 5): Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures dipped to a two-week low on Friday, ending the first week of the new year with a nearly 1% decline, as investors took profits ahead of a long weekend in Japan.
Japanese markets will be closed on Monday for a national holiday.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for June delivery finished 2.1 yen, or 1.0%, lower at 204.8 yen (US$1.81) per kg, after touching the lowest since Dec. 22 at 204.0 yen earlier in the session.
For the week, it shed 0.9%.
“There was no fresh news, but investors booked profits after a rally late last year,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst with commodities broker Fujitomi Co.
“I expect the market to move higher later this month toward the recent high of 213.8 yen as it seasonally tends to rally ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in China,” he said.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery slid 5 yuan to finish at 14,090 yuan (US$2,173) per tonne.
Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 3.5% from last Friday, the exchange said on Friday.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for February delivery last traded at 145.2 US cents per kg, down 0.4 cents.
(US$1 = 113.1400 yen)
(US$1 = 6.4835 Chinese yuan)
