TOKYO, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Tokyo’s key rubber futures contract ended higher on bargain-hunting after hitting a six-year low below 100 yen on Friday on poor auto sales figures this week that fanned fears of falling tyre demand.

* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May delivery <0#JRU:> briefly touched an intraday low of 99.8 yen per kg, down 7.8 percent and the lowest for a lead contract since August 2002. It later bounced back to close up 0.3 yen at 108.6 yen.

* A Tokyo-based broker said the market had probably not hit bottom yet, noting the steep economic downturn which has eroded car sales in major global markets.

“I think the business environment is even worse than we had imagined it to be,” he said. “It’s all about the auto industry.”

* Data released this week showed that auto sales in November plunged in a number of leading markets including Japan and the United States. Automakers including Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research), the world’s largest, say they will reduce output.

* The CEOs of General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Chrysler LLC said they would consider restarting talks about a merger during a nearly six-hour congressional grilling on the industry’s pleas for $34 billion in government aid. [ID:nN04392913]

* U.S. oil futures CLc1 were a touch softer after settling down $3.12 at $43.67 the previous session, in the lowest settlement since January 2005, after more bleak economic data that could point to a deeper decline in global energy demand. [O/R]

* Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1 percent in the week ended Thursday, the exchange said on Friday. [ID:nBJD000468]

* The International Rubber Consortium, which groups top producers Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, will meet on Dec. 11 in Indonesia, but many physical traders were sceptical about whether the meeting would produce steps to prop up prices.

Source:  Reuters

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