Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures opened the week lower as the fall in the Japanese equities and lower oil prices weighed on buying sentiment for the soft commodity.
FUNDAMENTALS
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for October delivery was down 1.1 yen at 201.1 yen per kg by 0027 GMT, after finishing 1.4 yen lower on Friday (Apr 25).
Japanese retail sales rose in March from a year ago at the fastest pace in 17 years, government data showed on Monday (Apr 28), as consumers went on a shopping spree before the sales tax rose on April 1.
Growth in emerging Asian countries will be lacklustre this year and contribute less to the global economy, despite signs of recovery in the region’s major trading partners in the West, Reuters polls showed on Friday (Apr 25).
Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.5 percent week-on-week, the exchange said on Friday (Apr 25).
MARKET NEWS
The U.S. dollar was quoted around 102.13 yen early on Monday (Apr 28), mostly steady ahead of policy reviews scheduled by the Bank of Japan and U.S. Federal Reserve for later this week.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average fell 0.9 percent in Monday (Apr 28) trade, following the drop in U.S. stocks on Friday (Apr 25) and increasing tensions in Ukraine.
Crude oil futures shrugged off a barrage of threats and demands between Western powers and Russia over the crisis in Ukraine to slip on Friday on profit taking and healthy supplies in North America.
– Reuters
