Many rubber markets in the region closed during 2 - 4 February on the week-long Lunar New Year holidays. However, the rubber market in general remained active because of currently bullish sentiment. Rubber prices on both rubber futures and physical markets still stayed above 500 US cents/kg, and these price levels should be steady if market fundamentals and external factors stay unchanged in the first half of this year.
Global stock markets settled higher on Friday. A merging plan between Nippon Steel Corp. and Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. boosted Tokyo stock market and other markets in the region. The decline in the U.S. unemployment rate to 9.0% and the nonfarm employment increased by36,000 in January lifted up prices on most European and U.S. stock markets on Friday, but crude oil futures on Nymex retreated as investors took profit ahead of the weekend as they felt that the effect of the ongoing Egyptian protests on crude oil prices had subsided.
On the global forex markets, the Japanese yen strengthened against the greenback on Friday after a January U.S. nonfarm payrolls report fell short of expectations. Asian currencies, including Thai baht, Indonesian rupiah, and Malaysian ringgit, also gained as investors took cue from upbeat economic data that speculation interest rates will be raised to counter inflation.
(Source: http://www.irco.biz/MarketWise.php?PHPSESSID=89f389cc743c65f8c1c1578dc2882d7d)
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