Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures marked a 4-1/2 year low early on Monday (Apr 21) amid weaker-than-expected monthly exports from Japan and concerns over demand in top buyer China.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for September delivery was down 2.2 yen at 204.2 yen per kg by 0033 GMT. It earlier touched 202.5 yen – its lowest level since October 2009.
The contract finished 8.5 yen lower on Friday (Apr 18).
Japan’s exports rose 1.8 percent in March from a year earlier, Ministry of Finance data showed on Monday (Apr 21), lower than a 6.3 percent gain seen by economists in a Reuters poll.
China’s home price inflation slowed to an eight-month low in March, data showed on Friday, extending to a third month a loss of momentum in a property market that has been a strong spot in the world’s second-largest economy.
Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 2.2 percent week-on-week, the bourse said on Friday (Apr 18).
U.S. car giant General Motors Corp plans to invest $12 billion in China from 2014 to 2017 and build more plants next year as it competes with aggressive rivals in the world’s largest auto market.
MARKET NEWS
The U.S. dollar was quoted around 102.58 yen early on Monday (Apr 21), hovering around a 2-1/2 week high after the Japan export data.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average rose 0.5 percent in Monday (Apr 21) trade.
U.S. crude futures were above $104 a barrel early on Monday (Apr 21), supported by continuing geopolitical risks in Ukraine despite an accord aimed at averting a wider conflict, as investors return from a three-day Easter weekend.
– Reuters
