This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Rubber News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
TOKYO, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Key Tokyo rubber futures inched lower on Wednesday on profit-taking after hitting a record high around 400 yen the day before, but support remained firm due to supply concerns.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May delivery <0#JRU:> fell 0.4 yen to 395.7 yen per kg as of 0040 GMT. The contract briefly hit a record high of 400.1 yen on Tuesday before settling at 396.1 yen.
* The most active May Shanghai rubber futures , which tracked Tokyo futures, ended at 35,535 yuan a tonne, up from Monday’s close of 35,320 yuan. Volume stood at 881,230 lots.
* Oil prices eased on Wednesday after slipping the day before when they were pressured by the Federal Reserve saying economic recovery was still too slow and reaffirming its commitment to its bond-buying plan to stimulate the economy. [O/R]
* The dollar edged up against a basket of major currencies early in Asia on Wednesday in the wake of upbeat U.S. economic data, but commodity currencies were the real winners with the Australian dollar back at parity against the greenback. [USD/]
MARKET NEWS
* Japanese manufacturers’ business sentiment worsened for the first time in nearly two years in the three months to December, a Bank of Japan’s tankan survey showed, as they felt the pinch from a strong yen and slowing exports. [ID:nTKU106415]
* Indonesia revised up its forecast for 2010 rubber production to 2.8 million tonnes and expects output next year to grow 7-8 percent on better weather, industry body the Indonesian Rubber Association (Gapkindo) said on Tuesday. [ID:nL3E6NE051]
* Italian carmaker Fiat will invest 3 billion reais ($1.77 billion) to open a car factory in Brazil’s state of Pernambuco capable of producing 200,000 vehicles a year. [ID:nN14289805]
* Japanese rubber buyers see no imminent risk of supply shortages but are wary of availability next year as unusual rainfall patterns have severely delayed buildups of inventories in producing countries, traders said. [ID:nTOE6BC06Q]
* Japan’s Nikkei stock average <.N225> rose 0.1 percent on Wednesday as a slightly weaker yen against the dollar helped lift exporter shares and foreign buying continued to buoy the market. [.T]
* U.S. stocks cut gains to end mostly flat after a late-day sell-off on Tuesday as yet another cautious statement from the Federal Reserve on the economy offset strong retail sales data for November. [.N]
Source: Reuters