Tokyo Futures Up On Firm Oil, Capped By Yen, Auto Concerns

Key Tokyo rubber futures rose on Wednesday (Apr 27) as oil prices firmed, but the rise was capped by a stronger yen and concerns over weak demand from Japan's auto industry which has been hit by supply chain disruptions after last month's earthquake.
FUNDAMENTALS
The benchmark TOCOM rubber futures for October delivery, rose 5.3 yen or 1.4 percent to 395.2 yen per kg as of 0011 GMT.
On Tuesday, the contract fell nearly 3 percent to as low as 384.3 yen, hurt by concerns about weak demand from the Japanese auto industry and sluggish Shanghai rubber futures.
The most active rubber contract on the Shanghai Commodity Exchange for September delivery fell 370 yuan ($56.680) per tonne to close at 32,900 yuan per tonne on Tuesday (Apr 26). Volume stood at 630,100 lots.
Oil was steady on Wednesday after Brent crude edged up in volatile trading and U.S. crude ended little changed the day before as investors eyed a U.S. Federal Reserve two-day policy meeting for any signal of a change in monetary policy.
The euro scaled fresh 16-month peaks against a broadly weaker greenback early in Asia on Wednesday, while the Swiss franc hit a record high as markets held bearish bets on the U.S. currency ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve meeting. The dollar slid to three-week lows around 81.29 yen.
(Reuters, April 27, 2011)