TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futuresfell on Thursday as investors took profits after three days ofgains and on concerns about the impact of a slowing Chineseeconomy, dealers said.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo CommodityExchange (TOCOM) for October delivery dropped 1.1 yen,or 0.5 percent, to settle at 205.0 yen ($2.01) per kg.
The contract earlier rose to 208 yen, the highest sinceApril 30, recovering after settling at 198.3 yen on Friday, butlost steam after failing to break through to 209 yen, theintra-day high hit two weeks earlier.
“It tried 209 yen in the morning, but selling pressurekicked in as soon as investors saw it was not going above the209 yen level,” said Jiong Gu, an analyst at Yutaka Shoji Co.
Japan’s economy clocked its fastest pace of growth in morethan two years in the first quarter as consumer spending jumpedand business investment turned surprisingly strong in a sign ofconfidence in the prospects for future growth.
“I think the benchmark will try 209 yen soon as Japan’s GDPcame above market consensus and an overall impact from a salestax hike in April seemed to be limited,” Gu said.
Crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports stood at 21,880tonnes as of May 10, up 0.05 percent from 10 days earlier, datafrom the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed onThursday.
China might miss its economic growth target for the firsttime in 15 years as data points to a sharper-than-expected lossof momentum and top leaders are talking about a “new normal” ofslower growth.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futuresexchange for September delivery lost 165 yuan to finishat 14,100 yuan ($2,300) per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOMexchange for June delivery last traded at 168.50 U.S.cents per kg, down 2.00 cents.($1 = 101.8050 Japanese Yen)($1 = 6.2289 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)
-Reuters
