TOKYO, May 17 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rose in slow trade on Friday following a rally in Shanghai, but were still down 2 percent on the week due to a halt in the yen’s decline and caution over a rise in seasonal supply in coming months.
Prices in the Shanghai rubber market rose more than 3 percent, tracking higher share prices in China as property stocks surged ahead of April home price data due on Saturday.
The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for October delivery settled at 287.8 yen ($2.8) per kg, up 5.5 yen from the previous close and snapping a three-day losing streak.
“The Tokyo market fell in early trade but later followed a rally in Shanghai to go higher,” a manager at a Japanese commodity brokerage said.
“But basically I see limited upside room, because we’re entering a period of a glut of rubber supply. Even though rubber inventories in Tokyo were down in the past 10 days, they’re still higher than 15,000 tonnes,” the manager said.
Industry data released on Friday showed crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports fell to 15,637 tonnes as of May 10, down 457 tonnes over a 10-day period after hitting their highest level since 2007.
On Thursday, the October contract had fallen as low 276.3 yen, a one-week low and down 7.6 percent from a two-month high of 299 yen on Monday.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange was up 665 yuan at 20,595 yuan ($3,300) per tonne.
The front-month June rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM futures exchange was last traded at 255 U.S. cents per kg, up 8.4 cents.
The markets in Thailand, the world’s biggest rubber producer, are closed on Monday for a public holiday.
($1 = 6.1492 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 101.9600 Japanese yen)
(Reporting by Risa Maeda; editing by Jane Baird)
Source: Reuters
