Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Rubber in Tokyo retreated from a more than five-month peak after Japan’s currency surged against the dollar, weakening the appeal of yen-based contracts. Shanghai futures set a two-year high after a week-long holiday.
Futures in Tokyo dropped for the first time in four days, losing as much as 1.8 percent to 318.5 yen per kilogram ($3,871 a metric ton). The price had earlier gained to 326.5 yen, the highest price since April 21. Shanghai contracts surged to as much as 28,020 yuan ($4,200), the highest level since July 2008 as they resumed trade after the National Day holiday.
“The strengthening tone of the yen put pressure on the Tocom prices,” Sureerat Kunthongjun, an analyst at AGROW Enterprise Ltd., said by phone from Bangkok.
The yen yesterday gained to a 15-year high on expectations that the Federal Reserve will expand credit-easing steps and on prospects that Japan will avoid currency-market intervention before today’s meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations. China’s stocks and commodities rose after retail sales surged during the holiday, adding to signs of the strength in the economy.
“Rubber was supported by speculation that Chinese buyers may step up purchases after the holiday,” Shuji Sugata, research manager at Mitsubishi Corp. Futures Ltd., said today by phone. “Futures in Tokyo were sold because of a stronger yen and a slump in industrial commodities overnight.”
The March-delivery contract fell 0.5 percent to settle at 322.7 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, also known as Tocom. The March contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 2.9 percent to close at 27,655 yuan.
Dollar Slumps
The dollar traded near the lowest level since 1995 against the yen on burgeoning speculation the Federal Reserve will debase its currency by stepping up purchases of government debt to support the economic recovery.
The dollar stood at 82.45 yen at 4:14 p.m. in Tokyo from 82.41 yen in New York yesterday when it touched 82.11 yen, the lowest since May 1995.
U.S. private nonfarm payrolls rose by 75,000 in September after an increase of 67,000 in the previous month, according to the median forecast of 60 economists in a Bloomberg News survey before today’s report from the Labor Department. The jobless rate is expected to increase to 9.7 percent from 9.6 percent.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s stock exchanges, rose 3.1 percent to 2,738.74.
The auctioned price of ribbed smoked sheets in Thailand dropped 0.3 percent to 105.89 baht ($3.52) a kilogram tracking lower crude oil prices, the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand said on its website today.
(bloomberg.com)
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