TOKYO, May 13 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures rose 2 percent
on Wednesday, snapping a three-day falling streak helped by gains
in oil prices, while recent firmness in physical rubber prices
provided support.
* The Tokyo Commodity Exchange resumed trading as usual on
Wednesday a day after a suspension of more than three hours due
to technical trouble only a week after the exchange launched a
new trading platform. [ID:nT147773]
* “Raw material costs stayed high in producing countries due
to a lack of supply from farmers. That’s the main factor
underlining the firmness here,” a manager at a Japanese brokerage
firm said. “The rally in oil prices is also a plus.”
* The key TOCOM rubber contract for October delivery <0#JRU:>
rose 3.7 yen, or 2.2 percent, to 171.7 yen per kg. Tuesday’s
settlement was 168 yen.
* U.S. crude futures rose toward $60 a barrel on
Wednesday after hitting a six-month high the previous day, after
U.S. inventory data showed an unexpected drawdown, boosting hopes
for recovery in the world’s top energy user. [O/R]
* The dollar pared earlier falls below 96 yen and stood at
96.20 yen in Wednesday afternoon trade, another factor inspiring
unwinding of earlier selling, traders said. A weaker yen inflates
yen-based futures prices.
* The dollar earlier hit a four-month low against a basket of
currencies, facing renewed selling amid a recovery in risk
appetite that has curbed safe-haven buying of dollars. [USD/]
* Technically, TOCOM’s new trading system makes it easier for
traders to make arbitrage orders which keep price gaps between
contracts consistent.
* That has become a popular tactic since the exchange
launched the new trading platform on May 7, a factor curbing
volatility in prices, traders said.
* The exchange also extended trading hours and introduced a
circuit breaker system in an attempt to lure back investors.
* TOCOM President Masaaki Nangaku apologised for the system
trouble in a news conference on Wednesday and said all efforts
should be focused on pinning down the cause of the problem.
* The latest Japanese industry data showed a recovery in
crude rubber inventories due to a slowdown in shipment,
suggesting demand remained fragile. Inventories totalled 9,484
tonnes as of April 30, up 0.9 percent from a 6-½ month low
marked 10 days earlier, data from the Rubber Trade Association of
Japan showed. [ID:nT256898]
* Honda Motor <7267.T> is taking steps to raise output in
Japan in preparation for a likely uptick in demand if a bill to
offer consumers cash to replace old cars becomes law, its chief
financial officer said. [ID:nTFD003295]
* General Motors Corp stock plunged more than 22
percent to a 76 percent low on Tuesday, a day after GM’s top
executives dumped their shares as the automaker heads toward a
bankruptcy or a restructuring that would all but wipe out
existing shareholders. [ID:nN12312068]

Source: Reuters

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