Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) — Rubber in Tokyo rose for a second day, extending a recovery from a three-month low, as signs of accelerating U.S. growth will boost the dollar’s rally against the yen. Futures inShanghai rebounded from a four-year low.
The contract for delivery in June on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange climbed as much as 1.8 percent to 259.8 yen a kilogram ($2,475 a metric ton) and traded at 259.5 yen by 11:14 a.m. local time. Futures reached 254.3 yen on Jan. 7, the lowest settlement for a most-active contract since Oct. 4.
U.S. firms added payrolls by 238,000 last month, more than 200,000 predicted in a Bloomberg survey, ADP Research Institute data yesterday showed. That is the biggest since November 2012. Government data tomorrow may say employers continued to add positions and the jobless rate remained at a five-year low.
“The data showing a U.S. recovery raised speculation the Federal Reserve will reduce stimulus, weakening the yen further against the dollar,” said Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at JSC Corp., a researcher in Tokyo. “A weak yen will provide support to rubber futures.”
The yen fell to as low as 104.98 a dollar today, dropping for a third day, boosting the appeal of yen-based futures.
Fed officials saw diminishing economic benefits from their bond-buying program and voiced concern about future risks to financial stability during their last meeting, the record of the Dec. 17-18 gathering showed. They last month began to cut the pace of monthly purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion.
Rubber for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 1.7 percent to 17,020 yuan($2,811) a ton, snapping its seven-day losing streak. It fell to 16,735 yuan yesterday, the lowest close for a most-active contract since September 2009.
Rubber free-on-board fell for a fifth session yesterday, dropping 1 percent to 78.15 baht ($2.37) a kilogram, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.
Source: Bloomberg
