RUBBER-Tokyo futures hit 3-week low on Thai halt to buy scheme

Key TOCOM rubber futures hit a three-week low on Wednesday, pressured by Thailand's move the previous day to terminate its rubber-buying scheme at the end of March.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for July delivery was changing hands 0.3 percent lower at 313.8 yen as of 0134 GMT. The benchmark contract fell as low as 312.5 yen, the lowest since it hit 311.8 yen on Jan. 30.

* The Thai government will not renew its rubber-buying scheme that is due to expire at the end of March as prices have rebounded to acceptable levels, the deputy agriculture minister said on Tuesday.

* The benchmark Tokyo rubber contract, which has gained about 50 percent over the last six months, tumbled 3 percent after the news. The contract is down more than 7 percent from a 10-month high hit earlier this month at 337.8 yen.

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MARKET NEWS

* U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as this year's ongoing surge in merger activity suggested investors were still finding value in the market even as indexes closed in on all-time highs.

* The yen held its ground against the dollar on Wednesday as doubts surfaced on whether the Bank of Japan will put into action bold plans to jumpstart the economy, while sterling languished at a seven-month low.

* Oil prices rose on Tuesday as traders grew bullish amid a rally in U.S. stock markets, even as U.S. pipeline bottlenecks and European economic concerns threatened to weigh on oil markets.

* Japan's Nikkei average rose in early trade to a 52-months high on Wednesday, boosted by Wall Street shares edging up to near-record highs. Analysts, though, said gains could be limited as investors focus on who will become the next Bank of Japan governor.