Rubber climbed as Japan’s currency declined to a five-week low against the dollar, boosting the appeal of yen-denominated contracts, after a monthly U.S. jobs report beat economists estimates.
Rubber for delivery in December advanced as much as 1.1 percent to 247.8 yen a kilogram ($2,444 a metric ton) and traded at 246.1 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at 9:50 a.m. The most-active contract rallied 3.7 percent last week, the best performance since the week through May 10.
The yen fell to 101.53 per dollar, the weakest level since May 30. U.S. employers added 195,000 workers last month, a report showed July 5, beating the increase of 165,000 predicted by economists. The Federal Reserve has indicated an improving job market could prompt a reduction in stimulus.
“Futures were supported by expectations that the yen will weaken further as the Fed is likely to curtail its bond-buying program this year,” Kazuhiko Saito, an analyst at broker Fujitomi Co. in Tokyo, said by phone today.
Gains in futures were limited after International Monetary Fund’s Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the fund may cut its global growth forecast because the expansion of emerging market economies is slowing, raising demand concerns, he said.
The Washington-based fund predicted in April that the world economy would expand 3.3 percent this year. The IMF is scheduled to publish new forecasts later this week.
Rubber for January delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.9 percent to 17,780 yuan($2,801) a ton. Natural-rubber inventories climbed 125 tons to 114,121 tons, based on a survey of nine warehouses in Shanghai, Shandong, Yunnan, Hainan and Tianjin, the exchange said July 5.
Thai rubber free-on-board dropped 0.2 percent to 82.45 baht ($2.63) a kilogram July 5, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.
Source: Bloomberg
