Tokyo rubber declines

Print this page Posted on : 06-21-2008 by recycleinme.com

Tokyo rubber futures closed down 1 per cent on Friday, sliding for a third day after oil prices dropped in New York and put extra pressure on fund managers to sell, but a slight recovery in oil prices helped recoup some losses.

The rubber benchmark on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for distant November delivery closed at ¥ 337.6 a kg, down ¥ 3.4 or about 1 per cent. The contract earlier fell as low as ¥ 334, the lowest intraday since last Friday. The most active November contract had risen as high as ¥ 354 last week, the highest for any benchmark since March 1980, as an oil- led rally attracted fund buying. The contract may test a recent low of ¥ 331 as the Tokyo market has confirmed a solid ceiling of ¥ 350 in the past week, traders said.

In the Asian physical market, rubber prices fell in line with a fall in the TOCOM market. While buyers are lowering bids, rubber suppliers are reluctant to do so given slow improvement in physical supply, traders said. Tire makers have lowered their bids further, keeping a spread against offer prices at 10 cents per kg or more for Thai RSS3 and STR 20, a Tokyo- based trader said.

Source : Business Line