Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures slipped to a two-month low on Monday (Apr 14) as uncertainty about economic growth in top buyer China and a fall in Japan’s benchmark stock index dented sentiment for the soft commodity.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for September delivery was down 0.3 yen at 213.4 yen per kg by 0024 GMT, after earlier trading at 212.3, its lowest level since Feb. 7. The contract finished 2 yen lower on Friday (Apr 11).
Chinese economic growth data this week will offer the clearest indication yet of whether the world’s second-largest economy will dodge a “hard landing”.
Thai growth forecasts will probably have to be cut further in the face of ongoing political instability, Thai Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong said on Saturday (Apr 12).
Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.1 percent week-on-week, the exchange said on Friday (Apr 11).
MARKET NEWS
The U.S. dollar was quoted around 101.49 yen early on Monday (Apr 14), edging up from a 3-1/2 week low touched on Friday (Apr 11), as rising tensions in Ukraine lifted appetite for the safe-haven Japanese currency.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average fell 0.4 percent in Monday (Apr 14) trade, following Wall Street’s dismal week, which was capped on Friday (Apr 11) by the Nasdaq closing below the 4,000 mark for the first time since early February.
U.S. crude oil futures rose above $104 a barrel in early trade on Monday (Apr 14) as increasing geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia supported buying sentiment for the front month contract.
– Reuters
