Tokyo rubber futures rose to a one-week high on Thursday as a weaker Japanese yen made them more expensive, but gains were still capped by profit-taking, dealers said. Technical sentiment on TOCOM improved after prices broke above a major resistance level at 290 yen, they said.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for August delivery rose 2.4 yen to settle at 291.5 yen ($3.12) per kg. It hit an intra-day high of 293.0 yen, the highest since February 28, before profit-taking set in. "Technically, the weaker yen should lend support to TOCOM and push prices to rise to test the next resistance of 300 yen, but profit-taking prevented them from rising much further," said a Tokyo-based dealer. The most-active rubber contract on Shanghai Commodity Exchange for September delivery was down 200 yuan to settle at 23,920 yuan ($3,800) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for April delivery was last traded at 287.0 US cents per kg, down 1.4 cents.