TOKYO, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Key Tokyo rubber futures slipped to a one-month low in early Monday trade with markets uncertain on the outlook for demand as a shutdown of U.S. government operations looked more likely and as a stronger yen weighed on the contract.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for March delivery was down 3.6 yen at 266.6 yen per kg by 0037 GMT, its lowest since Aug. 23, after finishing 7.5 yen lower on Friday.
* U.S. Senate Democrats decided on Sunday not to take up a measure approved in the early morning hours by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives that ties funding for government agencies to a one-year delay of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law.
* Japan’s industrial output slid 0.7 percent in August after a hefty gain in the previous month, but analysts see factory activity and the broader economy on track for a steady recovery backed by exports and firm domestic demand.
* Rubber stockpiles in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 2.8 percent from its last statement on Sept 13, the exchange said on Friday.
* Physical cargoes of tyre grade rubber for nearby shipment traded at more than $2 a kilogram last week, but the market lacked direction ahead of a holiday in main consumer China, dealers said.
TOCOM Rubber Futures Prices on Monday, September 30, 2013 (yen/kilogram)
|
Month |
Last Settlement Price |
Open |
High |
Low |
Current |
Change |
Volume |
|
Oct 2013 |
256.1 |
256.1 |
257.3 |
252.0 |
252.0 |
-4.1 |
71 |
|
Nov 2013 |
257.5 |
258.4 |
258.4 |
253.6 |
253.8 |
-3.7 |
18 |
|
Dec 2013 |
260.5 |
260.0 |
261.1 |
256.5 |
256.6 |
-3.9 |
28 |
|
Jan 2014 |
264.0 |
264.0 |
265.0 |
259.6 |
260.9 |
-3.1 |
218 |
|
Feb 2014 |
267.4 |
267.0 |
268.3 |
262.8 |
264.2 |
-3.2 |
2,026 |
|
Mar 2014 |
270.2 |
269.9 |
271.1 |
265.6 |
267.0 |
-3.2 |
3,578 |
|
Total |
|
5,939 |
|||||
MARKET NEWS
* The U.S. dollar was quoted around 97.84 yen in Asia, down from 98.20 yen late in New York, as investors sold the greenback as a midnight deadline to avert a shutdown in Washington loomed large.
* Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average fell 2 percent in early Monday trade, as the uncertainty of the U.S. government’s situation and the stronger yen hurt sentiment for exporters, the index’s core component.
* The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index finished flat on Friday as gains in gold and wheat, were countered declines in crude oil and raw sugar.
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Monday: (Time in GMT)
0145 China HSBC Final manufacturing PMI
0600 Germany Retail sales
0645 France Producer prices
0900 Euro zone Flash inflation
1230 U.S. Midwest manufacturing index
1430 U.S. Fed Texas manufacturing index
(Reporting by James Topham; Editing by Ed Davies)
Source: Reuters
