TOKYO (Oct 23): Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures hit a near one-week low on Monday and closed 0.5% lower, reflecting sluggish Shanghai futures, brokers said.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures fell as much as 1.6% to 193.9 yen, the lowest since Oct 17, but erased falls by the close, with the yen hitting a three-month low against the dollar following the victory for Japan’s ruling party.
A weaker yen makes commodities denominated in the Japanese currency cheaper for holders of other currencies.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for March delivery finished 0.9 yen lower at 196.2 yen (US$1.73) per kg.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 35 yuan to finish at 13,500 yuan (US$2,035) per tonne.
China’s economy is on track to meet its official growth target for 2017, the head of the state planning agency said on Saturday, despite a punishing war on pollution which is expected to slash industrial output over the winter months.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for November delivery last traded at 141.80 US cents per kg, down 2.1 cents.
(US$1 = 113.7300 yen)
(US$1 = 6.6340 Chinese yuan)
