Tokyo rubber futures rise on weaker yen, solid shares (Nov. 22)

Nov 22 (Reuters) – Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures rose more than 1 percent on Friday to their highest in about a week, boosted by a weaker yen and as the Nikkei stock index hit a key level.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for April delivery <0#2JRU:> was up 3.1 yen, or 1.2 percent, at 261.4 yen per kg by 0048 GMT, after settling 0.4 yen lower on Thursday. But it was heading for a slight weekly decline.

* U.S. factory output rebounded this month but hiring remained sluggish, while business activity across the euro zone and at China’s manufacturers slowed, surveys showed on Thursday.

* After months of misfires, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s message is finally getting through to Wall Street: to taper is not to tighten.

* Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the U.S. and euro zone economies are gaining strength, seeking to dispel concerns among other policymakers that Japan’s export engine and broader recovery were vulnerable to weakness overseas.

* Bridgestone Corp and several trading houses chased Southeast Asia tyre grades this week, with the physical market looking for clues on a possible further round of Chinese stockpiling, dealers said on Thursday.

TOCOM Rubber Futures Prices on Friday, November 22, 2013 (yen/kilogram)

Month	Last Settlement Price	Open	High	Low	Current	Change	Volume
Nov 2013	248.5	248.5	252.5	248.5	250.1	+1.6	53
Dec 2013	250.4	251.2	255.0	251.2	253.4	+3.0	33
Jan 2014	252.3	252.9	256.2	252.9	255.0	+2.7	55
Feb 2014	254.2	255.3	258.4	255.3	257.2	+3.0	110
Mar 2014	256.6	256.9	260.7	256.8	259.0	+2.4	254
Apr 2014	258.3	259.0	262.4	258.4	260.4	+2.1	3,541
Total							4,046

MARKET NEWS

* The yen fell to a fresh four-year low against the euro early in Asia on Friday, left exposed after promising data in both Germany and the United States underpinned the single currency and the U.S. dollar.

* Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average opened up 0.96 percent at 15,513.45 on Friday, recovering the 15,500 level for the first time in about a half year.

* A sharp rally in the energy complex and higher grains and metals prices gave a key commodities index its largest gain in seven weeks on Thursday. The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters/CoreCommodity CRB index rose 0.8 percent by the close for its highest one-day gain since Oct. 2.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0700 Germany detailed Q3 GDP

0900 Germany IFO business survey

1600 U.S. Kansas Fed manufacturing survey (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Source: Reuters