TOKYO, April 5 (Reuters) – Key TOCOM rubber futures rose almost 2 percent on Friday, supported by the Bank of Japan’s powerful stimulus policies unveiled a day earlier aimed at jump-starting the world’s third-biggest economy.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for September delivery traded 4.8 yen or 1.9 percent higher at 263.5 yen per kg as of 0015 GMT.
* The TOCOM market is heading for a weekly fall of about 4 percent.
* On Thursday, the September contract settled down 3 yen at 258.7 yen after the BOJ’s new stimulus policies helped lift the contract from a low of 252 yen, the weakest since Nov. 19, 2012.
* New Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Thursday committed the BOJ to open-ended asset buying and said the monetary base would nearly double to 270 trillion yen by the end of 2014, a dose of shock therapy officials hope will end two decades of stagnation.
* An unexpected jump in U.S. weekly jobless claims to a four-month high on Thursday raised questions about the labor market’s recovery a day ahead of the U.S. government’s widely watched monthly jobs report. A report on Wednesday showed U.S. companies hired at the slowest pace in five months in March.
TOCOM Rubber Futures Prices on April 5, 2013 (yen / kilogram)
|
Month |
Last Settlement Price |
Open |
High |
Low |
Current |
Change |
Volume |
|
Apr 2013 |
246.0 |
248.3 |
251.0 |
246.5 |
250.0 |
+4.0 |
17 |
|
May 2013 |
249.5 |
251.3 |
254.5 |
250.6 |
254.4 |
+4.9 |
34 |
|
Jun 2013 |
252.1 |
252.9 |
257.1 |
252.9 |
257.1 |
+5.0 |
54 |
|
Jul 2013 |
253.9 |
255.6 |
260.0 |
255.5 |
259.2 |
+5.3 |
51 |
|
Aug 2013 |
256.9 |
258.4 |
263.0 |
257.6 |
261.5 |
+4.6 |
258 |
|
Sep 2013 |
258.7 |
260.2 |
264.5 |
259.2 |
262.8 |
+4.1 |
2,918 |
|
Total |
|
3,332 |
|||||
MARKET NEWS
* In China, markets are closed for a public holiday on Friday and resume trading on Monday.
* The dollar rose to 96.80 yen in early Asian trade on Friday, the highest level since August, 2009.
* Japan’s Nikkei average rose more than 4 percent in early trade on Friday.
* Brent crude prices hit a five-month low near $105 a barrel on Thursday, but the benchmark crude pared losses late in New York as the euro strengthened.
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Friday: (Time in GMT)
0900 Euro zone Retail sales
1000 Germany Industrial orders
1230 U.S. Nonfarm payrolls
1230 U.S. Unemployment rate
1230 U.S. International trade
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Ed Davies)
Source: Reuters
