TOKYO, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Key Tokyo rubber futures rose to a five-week high on Tuesday, supported by a rise in equities and oil prices on some signs of improving sentiment for the economy.
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for January delivery <0#JRU:> rose 2.4 yen or about 1 percent to settle at 281.9 yen per kg.
* It rose as high as 285.9 yen earlier, the highest for any benchmark since June 28.
* Traders have said that if prices reach a key resistance level at 300 yen, an improved technical outlook could embolden the market to probe the upside further.
* Asian physical rubber prices tracked a strong futures market, drawing support also from limited supply, traders said. Thailand, the world’s biggest exporter, was hit by unseasonal rains which disrupted tapping while Indonesia, the second-biggest, is entering the dry season, when rubber trees stop producing latex. [ID:nSGE672029]
* India’s rubber output rose 14.4 percent to 57,500 tonnes in July as farmers raised tapping due to record high prices, a senior Rubber Board official told Reuters on Tuesday. [ID:nBMB011225]
* Oil Oil prices extended three-month highs towards $82 on Tuesday, tracking gains in Asian equities following strong bank earnings and upbeat manufacturing data for industrial economies a day earlier. [O/R]
* The dollar hovered near a three-month low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday on perceptions that the U.S. growth outlook is deteriorating, forcing the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. The yen was still holding back from an eight-month high of 85.95 yen hit last week. [USD/]
* Japan’s Nikkei average <.N225> rose 1.3 percent on Tuesday, helped by broad buying on easing worries about the global economic recovery after strong European bank results helped to send Wall Street to a 10-week closing high.

Source: Reuters

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