TOKYO, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rose 4.3 percent on Monday to a 10-month high as a weaker yen and strength in commodities and the stock market spurred buying.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for July delivery rose 9.8 yen to settle at 333.3 yen ($3.60) per kg.
The contract jumped as high as 337.4 yen, or 4.3 percent, to an intraday high of 337.4 yen, the highest for any benchmark since March 29, 2012.
The yen hovered around its lowest since May 2010.
A weaker yen makes dollar-based commodities more expensive and can encourage players to take speculative buying positions in TOCOM rubber. Theoretically, a 1 yen decline in the yen against the dollar pushes up Tokyo rubber prices by 2.5 yen to 3.0 yen per kg, brokers have said.
“Rubber got support from a weak yen and a rise in all the commodities including the stock markets,” said a Tokyo-based source who declined to be named. “It’s not that rubber had some strong factors to push the market higher, and I think fresh funds have been being poured into the market.”
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery rose 490 yuan to finish at 26,780 yuan ($4,300) per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for March delivery last traded unchanged at 311.50 U.S. cents per kg.
($1 = 92.6100 Japanese yen)
($1 = 6.2270 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori)
