Rubber slumps to one-week low as yen’s rebound reduces appeal

Rubber slumps to one-week low as yen’s rebound reduces appeal
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Bloomberg
Monday, 29 July 2013 11:07

(July 29): Rubber slumped to the lowest level in more than a week as Japan’s currency rebounded to a one-month high, weakening the appeal of the yen-denominated futures.

The contract for delivery in January lost as much as 3 percent to 242.7 yen a kilogram ($2,478 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the lowest level since July 18. Futures traded at 243.4 yen at 10:24 a.m., paring gains this month to 3 percent.

The yen climbed to 97.78 per dollar, the highest level since June 27, before the Federal Open Market Committee convenes July 30-31. Reports this week are expected to show that U.S. employers added fewer workers this month and economic growth weakened in the second quarter.

"Data showing the weakness of the U.S. economic recovery would strengthen the yen further against the dollar, leading to sales of futures in Tokyo,” said Kazuhiko Saito, an analyst at broker Fujitomi Co.

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and other Fed members have said any tapering of the central bank’s bond-purchasing program will depend on risks to the economic outlook and job market abating.

Rubber for January delivery fell 2 percent to 17,805 yuan ($2,904) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Natural-rubber inventories climbed 2,678 tons to 117,933 tons, the bourse said July 26, based on a survey of nine warehouses in Shanghai, Shandong, Yunnan, Hainan and Tianjin.

Thai rubber free-on-board fell 0.4 percent to 79 baht ($2.54) a kilogram on July 26, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.