TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) – Key Tokyo rubber futures inched down on Tuesday after hitting a three-week high above 175 yen, as oil prices eased.
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for November delivery <0#JRU:> rose as high as 176.2 yen per kg, the highest since May 11, before settling at 171.8 yen per kg, down 0.1 yen from the previous business day.
* Rubber was supported by strong oil prices and optimism about global demand.
* But investors took profits as oil fell nearly $1 to below $68 a barrel on Tuesday after jumping more than 3 percent and settling at a near seven-month high a day earlier on expectations of an economic recovery. Analysts said sentiment remained bullish amid growing signs of economic recovery. [O/R]
* Global rubber consumption is expected to fall 7 percent in 2009 to 20.8 million tonnes, compared with an earlier forecast of an 8 percent fall, the secretary-general of the International Rubber Study Group said in a note prepared for a conference presentation on Tuesday. [ID:nSHA137196]
* Shares of automakers such as Toyota <7203.T>, which are big rubber consumers, gained after General Motor’s bankruptcy filing helped remove uncertainty about the U.S. carmaker’s fate.
* Japan’s Nikkei average inched up 0.3 percent on Tuesday, as U.S. manufacturing data the previous day reinforced hopes that demand would stabilise. [.T]
* The dollar steadied on Tuesday after hitting its lowest this year against the euro and a basket of currencies. [USD/]
* A Reuters poll on rubber prices released on Monday produced a median forecast of 175 yen per kg for the benchmark Tokyo rubber futures contract by the end of June.
* Purchases by tyre makers, steady demand from main consumer China, tight supplies in Southeast Asia and high oil prices are expected to push up rubber prices in June, the poll showed. [ID:nBKK426529]

Source: Reuters

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