TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) – Key TOCOM rubber futures rose more than 2 percent on Monday as the yen dropped to a near four-year low on reports the Bank of Japan would begin buying longer-dated bonds immediately to beat deflation.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for September delivery was changing hands 5.1 yen higher at 258.6 yen as of 0019 GMT. The benchmark contract rose nearly 3 percent to 261.0 yen shortly after the open.
* The yen fell as much as 1.2 percent to 98.78 to the dollar, the lowest since June 2009, after the Nikkei newspaper said the Bank of Japan would this week buy 1.2 trillion yen of government bonds with more than five years remaining to maturity as it begins its super-loose monetary policy.
TOCOM Rubber Prices on April 8, 2013 ( yen / kilogram )
|
Month |
Last Settlement Price |
Open |
High |
Low |
Current |
Change |
Volume |
|
Apr 2013 |
242.0 |
245.5 |
250.0 |
245.5 |
248.5 |
+6.5 |
5 |
|
May 2013 |
248.3 |
248.1 |
253.1 |
248.1 |
251.6 |
+3.3 |
18 |
|
Jun 2013 |
247.9 |
249.8 |
254.5 |
249.0 |
252.7 |
+4.8 |
81 |
|
Jul 2013 |
249.7 |
251.2 |
258.0 |
251.2 |
254.3 |
+4.6 |
322 |
|
Aug 2013 |
251.9 |
252.5 |
259.9 |
251.7 |
255.9 |
+4.0 |
288 |
|
Sep 2013 |
253.5 |
254.6 |
261.0 |
253.4 |
257.0 |
+3.5 |
2,485 |
|
Total |
|
3,199 |
|||||
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks ended their worst week this year with losses on Friday after a weak jobs report undermined confidence in the economy and first-quarter earnings growth.
* Brent crude fell to an eight-month low on Friday, going below $104 a barrel and capping off the biggest weekly drop since June as the weak U.S. jobs report fed worries about the economy of the world’s largest oil consumer.
* Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average opened up 1.94 percent at 13,082.61 on Monday, while the broader Topix gained 1.70 percent to 1,084.40.
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Monday: (Time in GMT)
– 0830 Euro zone Sentix index
– 1000 Germany Industrial output
– 1230 U.S. Fed Midwest manufacturing
– 1400 U.S. Employment trend index
– 2315 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Source: Reuters
