TOKYO, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Key Tokyo rubber futures edged lower on Thursday as a fall in Shanghai futures prompted investors to take profits while they awaited U.S. data later in the day for clues on global demand and economic growth.
The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for February delivery <0#2JRU:> settled down 1.4 yen, or 0.4 percent, at 373.9 yen per kg.
The most active Shanghai rubber contract for January delivery inched down 0.9 percent to close at 33,940 yuan ($5,321.251) per tonne on Thursday. Volume picked up at 515,462 lots from 405,940 lots on Wednesday.
China’s factory activity steadied in August on solid domestic demand, a pair of surveys showed on Thursday, but tight monetary policy at home and torpid demand abroad have dimmed chances for a sustained recovery in the manufacturing sector. [ID:nL4E7K102O]
Oil prices retreated later on Thursday after rising on the Chinese manufacturing data, which stoked expectations that growth in the world’s largest energy consumer will offset slowing industrialised economies. [O/R]
Later in the day, U.S. weekly jobless claims and the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index for August will be released.
Wednesday’s data showed factory activity in the U.S. Midwest was slightly slower in August, while private employers continued to hire despite extreme financial market turmoil, easing fears the economy would fall back into recession. [ID:nN1E77U04P]
The euro fell across the board on Thursday after a weaker-than-expected reading of German manufacturing highlighted increasing sluggishness in the euro zone’s largest economy. [USD/]
Japan’s Nikkei stock average <.N225> rose on Thursday to clear 9,000 for the first time in two weeks. [.T]
Japan’s Zeon Corporation <4205.T>, which makes and sells synthetic rubber, has opened its first synthetic rubber plant in Singapore, the company said on Thursday. [ID:nL4E7K11AJ]

Source: Reuters

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