TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures fell more than 1.5 percent on Monday, hurt by weaker stock markets and a rise in rubber inventories in China, to head back towards a three-month low touched late last week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for August delivery <0#2JRU:> traded 1.6 percent lower at 278.4 yen per kg as of 0034 GMT.
* The contract on Thursday fell as low as 272.4 yen, the lowest since Dec. 14, as the outlook for demand was hurt by news that China’s monetary policy had been changed to neutral from loose.
* Rubber is currently trading down more than 8 percent from a two-week high of 303.3 yen struck on March 11 on the back of a weaker yen.
* Japan’s Nikkei average shed 1.9 percent on Monday, retreating from a 54-month high on uncertainty surrounding a proposed bailout for Cyprus, potentially reigniting the eurozone debt crisis.
* Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 5.9 percent from last Friday, the exchange said on Friday.
* Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Sunday that his government would “show even greater resolve” in tackling China’s festering pollution crisis, a source of increasing public fury.
TOCOM Rubber Futures Prices on March 18, 2013 (yen / kilogram)
|
Month |
Last Settlement Price |
Open |
High |
Low |
Current |
Change |
Volume |
|
Mar 2013 |
268.5 |
269.0 |
269.0 |
260.0 |
260.0 |
-8.5 |
31 |
|
Apr 2013 |
269.6 |
269.5 |
271.6 |
261.0 |
261.0 |
-8.6 |
21 |
|
May 2013 |
273.5 |
272.0 |
275.0 |
264.0 |
264.0 |
-9.5 |
46 |
|
Jun 2013 |
277.0 |
274.4 |
276.6 |
268.2 |
268.2 |
-8.8 |
61 |
|
Jul 2013 |
280.1 |
279.0 |
281.5 |
270.4 |
270.4 |
-9.7 |
256 |
|
Aug 2013 |
282.9 |
281.2 |
285.1 |
273.1 |
273.1 |
-9.8 |
4,358 |
|
Total |
|
4,773 |
|||||
MARKET NEWS
* Oil futures dropped by more than $1 a barrel in early Asian trading on Monday, hurt by a stronger dollar. The dollar index was up 0.7 percent, making commodities priced in the greenback expensive for holders of other currencies.
* The euro skidded lower in Asia early on Monday as surprise news that Cyprus would have to tax depositors as part of a bailout plan was taken as setting a dangerous precedent that at worst could ultimately risk bank runs elsewhere in the region.
* U.S. stocks slipped on Friday, ending the Dow Jones industrial average’s longest winning streak since 1996 as investors paused just below the S&P 500’s record high.
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Monday: (Time in GMT)
1000 EZ Eurostat trade Jan 2013
1400 U.S. NAHB housing market indx Mar
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Richard Pullin)
Source: Reuters
