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TOKYO (Aug 3): Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures tumbled nearly 3 percent on Monday, hitting their lowest in more than three months, as China’s weak economic data fuelled worries about slow demand in the world’s biggest buyer, prompting a flurry of fresh selling.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for January delivery <0#2JRU:> finished 6 yen, or 2.9 percent, lower at 197.4 yen ($1.59) per kg. It earlier hit a low of 196.5 yen, the lowest since April 21.
“The market came under stronger pressure after China’s disappointing data,” Toshitaka Tazawa, analyst at Fujitomi Co, said.
Headwinds for the world’s second-biggest economy intensified at the start of the third quarter, with manufacturing conditions in China deteriorating to their worst in two years in July and triggering fresh slides in global commodity prices.
TOCOM futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, have lost more than 20 percent since hitting a 16-month high in early June, weighed down by persistent concerns about China’s softening demand and volatile stock markets.
“TOCOM prices will probably head even lower toward the April’s low of 194 yen as there are not much supporting factors,” Tazawa said.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 280 yuan to finish at 12,415 yuan ($1,999.61) per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for September delivery last traded at 136 U.S. cents per kg, down 2.8 cent.
($1 = 6.2087 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 124.1700 yen)
Source: Reuters