Rubber pared a weekly advance on concern that demand may weaken after the European Central Bank cut its forecast for euro-area economic growth and as data may show U.S payrolls rose by the smallest amount since June.
The contract for May delivery dropped as much as 0.8 percent to 261.6 yen a kilogram ($3,179 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, and ended at 263.6 yen. That pared this week’s gain to 1.7 percent.
The euro area won’t start to shake off its slump until the second half of 2013, ECB PresidentMario Draghi said yesterday after policy makers left the benchmark rate at a record low. Figures from the U.S. Department of Labor may show payrolls rose by 85,000 workers last month, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
“The market remained concerned that the economic downturn in Europe could lower demand,” said Chaiwat Muenmee, an analyst at Bangkok-based broker DS Futures Co.
Rubber for delivery in May rose 0.2 percent to close at 24,405 yuan ($3,917) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Thai rubber free-on-board was unchanged at 92.60 baht ($3.02) a kilogram today, the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand said.
Source: Bloomberg
