TOKYO, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Key Tokyo rubber futures once again topped the key 200 yen mark on Thursday after recouping earlier losses on a rise in Shanghai shares. * Trade in Tokyo rubber futures has been volatile this week with prices climbing as high as 214.5 yen per kg on Monday, the highest since October.
* They have fallen about 6 percent since then, after recovering from the week’s low of 196.7 on Wednesday, in itself the lowest since Aug. 24, as selling gathered pace after a retreat in regional stocks fuelled doubts over global demand. * “The yen’s down a little and Shanghai shares are up, and this is spurring rubber buying,” said Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Tokyo’s Fujitomi Co Ltd.
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for February delivery <0#JRU:> was at 201.6 yen per kg at 0438 GMT, up 2.1 yen or 1.1 percent from the previous close, after moving between 197.3 yen and 203.0 yen.
* Technical charts have underscored caution over the demand side as a so-called double top was formed after the key TOCOM contract failed to top 215 yen twice in August.
* Physical rubber prices remained at high levels, supported by limited supply due to the weather in the top three producing countries: Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
* China’s key stock index rose 3.5 percent on Thursday, with metals stocks strong after a top securities regulator assured investors that the country’s market was healthy and that there would be continued support for blue-chip companies. [ID:nBJD002992]
* Japan’s Nikkei stock average lost 0.5 percent on Thursday as exporters fell on worries about the U.S. economy after dismal jobs data. [.T]
* U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as jitters about the economy prompted investors to unload some shares for a fourth-straight day even after a sharp drop in the previous session. A labour-market report showing more private-sector job losses in August than forecast made investors nervous ahead of Friday’s highly anticipated monthly jobs data from the U.S. Labour Department. [.N]
* U.S. crude futures was steady above $68 a barrel on Thursday after settling unchanged a day earlier, as a steep fall in U.S. gasoline inventories offset a smaller-than-expected drop in crude stocks in the world’s top energy user. [O/R]
* The dollar fell as low as 91.94 yen on trading platform EBS, its lowest since July 13, but later edged back up. [USD/]
* About 100,000 Chinese and more than 10,000 Americans could lose their jobs if the United States goes ahead and restricts tyre imports from China, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.

Source: Reuters

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