TOKYO, May 12 (Reuters) – Key TOCOM rubber futures rose onMonday, but the benchmark October contract remained below thepsychological 200 yen level on worries over top producerThailand’s plans to sell from its stockpiles.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract forOctober delivery was trading 1.2 yen higher at199.5 yen as of 0022 GMT, after posting the biggest weekly dropin five weeks on Friday.
It fell as low as 197.5 earlier, the weakest since Fridayand near a 4-1/2 year low of 196.7 yen struck in late April.
* Thailand has pledged to go ahead with a plan to sell200,000 tonnes of rubber from government stocks, shrugging offstrong opposition from farmers and helping drive down globalprices to near the lowest in more than four years.
MARKET NEWS
* The Dow ended at a record high on Friday, boosted by IBM,while a rebound in high-growth momentum names helped the broadermarket.
* The greenback was little changed on the yen at 101.95JPY=, having found good support again in the 101.40 area.
* Brent crude edged up 28 cents to above $108 a barrel onMonday, after falling 15 cents on Friday.
* Japan’s Nikkei average was down 0.16 percent on Monday.
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Monday: (Time in GMT)
– 0500 Japan Economy watchers poll April
– 1800 U.S.
Federal budget April (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Ed Davies)
– Reuters
