Tokyo rubber futures fell more than 3 percent on Thursday, hit by a drop in oil prices on worries about the global economy and the firm yen. The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for October delivery fell 4.8 yen to 166.9 yen per kg at 0240 GMT, down 2.8 percent from Wednesday's settlement of 171.7 yen.
It earlier fell 3.3 percent to a trough of 166.1 yen.He said the outlook for the global economy was still very uncertain, despite green shoots of recovery seen in some economic data. The technical problems halted trade on TOCOM for more than three hours. Oil prices fell 1.4 percent on Wednesday as gloom on Wall Street outweighed the impact of a government report showing a surprise drop in US crude and gasoline stockpiles.
US crude extended losses on Thursday, trading below $58 a barrel. The yen and dollar held on to some of their strongest levels this week after bleak US retail sales rekindled worries about the economy. Japan's crude rubber inventories totalled 9,484 tonnes as of April 30, up 0.9 percent from a 6-1/2 month low marked 10 days earlier, industry data showed on Wednesday.
US stocks tumbled on Wednesday as the retail sales report caused a broad sell-off that accelerated late in the session. General Motors Corp and Chrysler aim to drop as many as 3,000 US dealers and are expected to begin sending notifications as early as Thursday, three people briefed on the still developing plan said.
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