TOKYO (Jan 22): Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended unchanged on Monday, paring earlier gains on the news of a bomb explosion in southern Thailand, the world’s top rubber producer.
A motorcycle bomb exploded in a market in Thailand’s southern Yala province on Monday, killing three people and wounding 22, a spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) said, the first such attack in the region in months.
“The market had a brief spike after the news, but the gains were offset by selling in late trade as an impact on rubber production by the explosion was not clear,” a Tokyo-based dealer said.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for June delivery finished unchanged at 209.2 yen (US$1.89) per kg, after rising to a high of 210.9 yen in a mid-day trade.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 20 yuan to finish at 14,075 yuan (US$2,196) per tonne.
“Asian markets are flooded with supplies, and rubber prices are likely to stay under pressure unless there is some disruption or reduction in rubber output,” the dealer said.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for February delivery last traded at 153.2 US cents per kg, down 0.1 cent.
(US$1 = 110.8600 yen)
(US$1 = 6.4105 Chinese yuan)
