TOKYO, May 28 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futuresfell slightly on Wednesday, weighed down by weak Shanghai marketdue to lackluster trading, brokers said.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo CommodityExchange (TOCOM) for November delivery settled down 1.5yen, or 0.7 percent, at 204.6 yen ($2.00) per kg.
“The trades were slow as there was no fresh news. The TOCOMprices came under pressure following a fall in Shanghai market,”a Tokyo-based broker who declined to be identified.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futuresexchange for September delivery fell 95 yuan to finishat 14,480 yuan ($2,300) per tonne.
Investors are waiting for China’s economic indicators suchas PMI to be released early next month to get a clue of economichealth of the world’s biggest rubber consumer, brokers said.
Japanese stocks rose for a fifth day on Wednesday as strongU.S. data buoyed market sentiment, but it failed to help recoverthe rubber prices.
Against the yen, the dollar held steady near 101.85 yenJPY=, staying within sight of a near two-week high around 102.14yen that had been set on Tuesday.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOMexchange for June delivery last traded at 173.00 U.S.cents per kg, up 1.9 cent.
($1 = 102.0700 Japanese Yen)($1 = 6.2486 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi, editing by David Evans)
