TOKYO, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures dropped to a two-week low on Wednesday as declines in the Nikkei share index and a slightly stronger yen encouraged investors to liquidate contracts to take profit, dealers said.
The new benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for May delivery settled down 1.2 percent at 256.9 yen ($2.53) per kg, after falling to an intraday low of 256.5 yen, the lowest since Nov. 13.
“TOCOM rubber was weighed on by falling share prices and the yen’s slight rise as there was no other fresh news,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, analyst at Fujitomi Co.
Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell on Wednesday on profit-taking, moving further away from a six-month high.
“Trading volume of TOCOM rubber has been extremely low since last month as some investors apparently focus more on the stock market than commodities,” he said.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery rose 45 yuan to 18,980 yuan ($3,100) per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for December delivery last traded at 229.00 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.10 cents.
($1 = 101.4000 Japanese yen)
($1 = 6.0927 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
Source: Reuters
