TOKYO, April 18 (Reuters) – Key Shanghai rubber futures fellto a more than five-year low on Friday, while Tokyo futuresdipped to their lowest since October 2009 as concerns about aneconomic slowdown in top consumer China prompted a wave ofselling to cut losses.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futuresexchange for September delivery fell 750 yuan, or 5percent, to 14,200 yuan ($2,300), the lowest since 13,755 yuanhit on Dec. 26, 2008.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo CommodityExchange (TOCOM) for September delivery dropped 8.5 yen,or 4 percent, to settle at 206.4 yen ($2.02) per kg.
It fell to an intraday low of 205.1 yen per kg, the lowestsince Oct. 7, 2009. The contract ended the week down 3.4 percentand a fifth straight week of losses.
“There was no fresh fundamental news, but bearish sentimentgot stronger after investors stepped up selling to cut lossesamid worries about slowing demand in China and highinventories,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Co.
“Some investors bought on dips after the contract hit a lowof 210 yen in early February, but they lost patience with therecent slides and started selling to clear their positions,” hesaid, adding that the market could test below-200 yen if Chineseeconomic indicators continued to show weakness.
Kaname Gokon, general manager of research at broker OkatoShoji, said that though TOCOM oil and precious metal futureswere at a deadlock with little change, rubber tended to showclearer market direction, making it one of the popular vehiclesfor investors eyeing easy profits.
High rubber inventories in April in Japan and elsewhere,partly due to the Thai government’s plans to sell 200,000 tonnesof rubber from state inventory, were putting downward pressureon the market, he added.
The Singapore market was closed for a public holiday onFriday.
($1 = 102.2650 Japanese Yen)
($1 = 6.2190 Chinese Yuan)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Osamu Tsukimori; Editing byPrateek Chatterjee)
– Reuters
