Tocom rubber futures settle 1.0% higher after gaining as much as 3.6% intraday; prices jumped early, reaching the session’s high in the first 20 minutes of trade, but retreated steadily in the last hour or so, tracking losses in Shanghai rubber after midday. Tocom prices appeared to receive little support from the Thai deputy agriculture minister’s statement that the government was prepared to raise its budget for intervening in the natural rubber market if necessary. “The Thai government keeps saying they will boost prices, but they keep falling anyway,” a trader in Bangkok says. Thai government intervention is probably priced into Tocom and more-aggressive moves by the government would be needed to boost prices, he says. Traders will focus on U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony to Congress later in the day. Benchmark December rubber settles Y2.5 higher at Y250.4/kg, off the intraday high of Y256.9/kg.

Source: Dow Jones

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