TOCOM gains 2pc to 4-week high on oil hopes
Posted Date : February 5, 2015In Global Rubber Market News
TOKYO: Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended up 2 percent on Wednesday, after hitting a four-week high, boosted by expectations of a sustained climb in oil prices after crude posted its biggest winning streak in six years a day earlier.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, have got clear support from oil, closing in on a six-month high hit in early January that came on worries over lower production in flood-hit Malaysia and Thailand, market participants say.
Worries about global oversupply in oil led to a 60 percent slide in crude prices between June and late January, though Brent crude has recovered to around $57 a barrel as some investors become confident that oil prices have hit their bottom.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for July delivery finished 4.1 yen higher at 208.9 yen per kg, gaining 6.5 percent in the past three sessions. The benchmark contract hit an intraday high of 209.8 yen, the highest since Jan. 7.
?With metal prices unchanged, all are pouring money into oil and rubber markets,? said a Tokyo-based dealer.
TOCOM crude futures for July delivery ended up 6 percent at 44,780 yen per kilolitre.
The U.S. dollar was quoted around 117.63 yen early on Wednesday, compared with about 117.17 yen late Tuesday afternoon.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery rose 200 yuan to finish at 13,500 yuan per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore?s SICOM exchange for March delivery last traded unchanged at 140.70 U.S. cents per kg.
- Reuters
