Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures shrugged off some of the previous day’s losses early on Thursday (Apr 10) as gains in Japanese equities and the overnight jump in U.S. oil prices lifted buying sentiment.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for September delivery was up 0.7 yen at 222.0 yen per kg by 0020 GMT, after finishing 4.1 yen lower on Wednesday (Apr 9).
India’s natural rubber imports jumped 49.3 percent to a record 324,467 tonnes in the year ended March 31 from the year before as excessive monsoon rains hurt production, the state-run Rubber Board said.
Chinese consumers bid for prompt physical rubber shipments at below $2 a kg this week, but some sellers held back their cargoes because of the low prices and difficulties in getting raw material, dealers said on Wednesday (Apr 9).
Federal Reserve officials fretted last month that investors would over react to policymakers’ fresh forecasts on interest rates that appeared to map out a more aggressive cycle of rate hikes than was actually anticipated.
MARKET NEWS
The U.S. dollar was quoted around 102.06 yen early on Thursday (Apr 10), slightly above a three-week trough set on Tuesday (Apr 8), after minutes from the U.S. central bank’s March meeting disappointed dollar bulls.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average rose 1.1 percent in Thursday (Apr 10) trade, after Wall Street soared overnight as investors saw the Federal Reserve being more supportive in its latest policy meeting than previously expected.
U.S. crude futures edged down in early Asian trade on Thursday (Apr 10) after surging more than $1 in the previous session due to an unexpected spike in gasoline demand and tensions over Ukraine.
– Reuters
