TOKYO, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rose for a second day on Wednesday, helped by a higher Nikkei as investors expect any move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to roll back stimulus will be modest.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for February delivery rose 4.4 yen, or 1.6 percent, to settle at 277.8 yen ($2.80) per kg.
“Investors became less worried about the Fed’s action as an expected paring of stimulus is seen to be modest, which will have limited impact on global economy,” said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst at Dot Commodity in Tokyo.
Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to an eight-week high on Wednesday, spurred by expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will deliver only a modest cut to its massive stimulus program at the end of its two-day meeting.
“Strong gain in Shanghai market also added some support to TOCOM benchmark,” Yoshida said.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery rose 605 yuan to 20,795 yuan ($3,400) per tonne. It hit a week-high of 20,820 yuan in late afternoon trade.
China markets will be shut on Thursday and Friday for the Mid-Autumn Festival public holiday.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for October delivery last traded at 240.70 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.70 cents.
($1 = 98.7900 Japanese yen)
($1 = 6.1203 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Anand Basu)
Source: Reuters
