Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures extended gains into a third straight session on Friday, hitting 3-month highs and marking their biggest weekly gains in nearly 2 years, amid trade optimism and aggressive buying by foreign funds. The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for November delivery finished 4.4 yen, or 2.2%, higher at 206.4 yen ($1.9) per kg, after touching the highest since March 4 of 207.9 yen earlier in the session. For the week, it booked a 6.3% jump, the biggest weekly leap since July 2017.
TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for December delivery closed up 1.7% at 167.5 yen per kg. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for July delivery last traded at 155.4 US cents per kg, up 0.7%. Financial markets in mainland China and Hong Kong were closed on Friday. Trading will resume on Monday.
"A continued rally in physical prices in Thailand lent support to the TOCOM," said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at commodities broker Fujitomi Co, adding that an updraft in physical market helped prompt aggressive buys in the TOCOM from foreign funds. "If the TOCOM benchmark reaches the March's high, it will be headed toward a peak in January 2018," he said.
The price of Thailand's benchmark smoked rubber sheet (RSS3) touched its highest in about two years on Friday. Its export-grade rubber sheet was quoted at $1.98 per kg on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, the highest since June 2017, according to Refinitiv data.
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