TOKYO, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures extended declines on Thursday, erasing early gains of more than 2 percent, as the dollar eased against the yen from a three-week high earlier in the day.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for March delivery fell 1.1 yen to settle at 268.8 yen ($2.72) per kg, the lowest close since Oct. 11. The benchmark had climbed to its highest since Sept. 27 at 276.0 yen in early morning trade.
The dollar slipped 0.3 percent to 98.44 yen, having pulled back from a three-week high of 99.01 yen set earlier in the day, in a sell-the-fact type of reaction after the U.S. Congress approved an eleventh-hour deal to end a fiscal standoff.
A stronger yen makes yen-denominated assets more expensive when purchased in other currencies.
“TOCOM rubber was swayed by the dollar-yen movement, and it also came under pressure from weaker Shanghai futures,” a Tokyo-based broker source said.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 505 yuan, or 2.4 percent, to finish at 20,405 yuan ($3,300) per tonne.
Traders awaited China’s third-quarter growth domestic product data, due out on Friday morning.
China’s annual economic growth is forecast to have quickened in the September quarter after slowing through the first half of the year, but the pick-up is expected to be shortlived as the government pushes on with its reform agenda.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for November delivery last traded at 237.00 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.5 cent.
($1 = 98.8650 Japanese yen)
($1 = 6.0995 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Sunil Nair)
Source: Reuters
