Tokyo rubber futures finished slightly mixed on Thursday as some contracts regained ground on modest bargain hunting, but sentiment was bearish after the benchmark contract briefly breached a key support level. Rubber contracts fell at the pulled down by the heavy decline in energy contracts on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM). The benchmark May 2005 contract slipped to 118.7 yen, falling below the key 120-yen level.
Next support was pegged at 116.80 yen, the 16-month low marked on November 25. The key contract settled up 1.7 yen per kg at 123.7 yen, a session high. The two nearby contracts ended down 1.1 to 1.5 yen, while the forward months finished up 0.1 to 1.7 yen.
"The market today lacked momentum and fell short of topping on Wednesday's high, and that makes it difficult to continue buying," a Tokyo analyst said. "It's looking a bit heavy at the top," he said.
In the absence of fresh fundamental factors for rubber, traders will be keeping an eye on currency markets and the strengthening yen to provide a clue to direction. In the currency market, the dollar fell to a 4-1/2 year low of 102.11 yen against the Japanese currency during rubber trading hours.
The dollar was at 102.14/20 yen. The volume of TOCOM rubber traded on Thursday was an estimated 15,267 lots. Open interest stood at 37,315 lots as of the end of Wednesday, up from Tuesday's 35,683 lots.
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