TOKYO, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures climbed 1.7 percent on Monday, supported by a recovery in oil prices, while a fall in the yen versus the dollar inflated the yen-based futures prices and spurred local speculative buying.

* The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange <0#JRU:> for February delivery rose 5.3 yen to 313.9 yen ($2.89) per kg. It rose to a session high of 315.3 yen, compared with a one-month high for any benchmark of 324.9 yen marked last week.

* Oil firmed and stayed near $108 per barrel on Monday on worries that Hurricane Ike could threaten Gulf of Mexico energy production facilities.
Traders were awaiting a production decision from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with expectations that ministers would leave agreed output targets unchanged at a meeting on Tuesday. [O/R]

* The TOCOM market is now caught in a range between 300 and 325 yen, said Takashi Ogura, director at Kanetsu Asset Management in Tokyo.
“Signs that selling pressure has been strong in any rally recently suggest that downside risk is higher (than upside risk),” he said. “But if oil manages to stay above $100, that risk could wither,” Ogura said, referring to concerns about an economic downturn behind the recent weakness in both oil and rubber prices.

* The dollar rose about 1 percent against a broadly weaker yen on Monday after the U.S. government took control of mortgage housing companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to shore up the U.S. housing market and protect against more global financial turbulence.

* On the physical front, rubber prices were higher on the back of rising futures prices and supply concerns while some rubber shipments from Thailand have been delayed due to a rail strike linked to anti-government protests. [ID:nBKK142078]

PRICES OF ASIAN PHYSICAL RUBBER COMPARED WITH FRIDAY
Grade Price Change
Thai RSS3 (Oct) $3.00/kg +$0.04
Thai RSS3 (Nov) $3.00/kg +$0.04
Thai STR20 (Oct) $2.98/kg +$0.04
Thai STR20 (Nov) $2.98/kg +$0.04
Malaysia SMR20 (Oct) $2.98/kg +$0.02
Malaysia SMR20 (Nov) $2.98/kg +$0.02
Indonesia SIR20 (Oct) $1.33/lb unchanged
Indonesia SIR20 (Nov) $1.33/lb unchanged
Thai USS3 96 baht/kg +1 baht
Thai 60-percent latex (drums, Oct) $2,050/tonne +$50
Thai 60-percent latex (bulk, Oct) $1,900/tonne +$40 ($1=34.37 Baht) ($1=108.57 Yen) (Reporting by Risa Maeda in Tokyo and Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat in Bangkok) (([email protected]; +81 3 6441 1856; Reuters Messaging: [email protected])) ** NOTE – The prices quoted above are offer prices collected from traders in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. They are not official prices quoted by state-run rubber agencies in those countries.

Source:  Reuters

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