TOCOM ends down 2pc as China GDP growth slows

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures extended declines and hit a two-week low on Monday, after data showed China's economic growth eased in the third quarter to grow at its slowest pace since the start of the global financial crisis.

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, also came under pressure from oversupply and weak Shanghai futures after the Chinese data.

"Thai cash rubber market has fallen as local supplies are on the rise," said a source with a Tokyo-based dealer. "Unless the upstream supplies decrease, the market would continue to be weak."

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for March delivery finished 3.5 yen lower at 168.7 yen ($1.41) per kg. It touched 168.6 yen, the lowest since Oct. 5, earlier in the day.

The source with the dealer added that the TOCOM contract could fall to a six-year low of 162.7 yen hit on Sept. 7 in near future if a circuit breaker was triggered.

China posted its weakest quarterly economic growth since the global financial crisis on Monday, raising pressure on policymakers to cut interest rates further and roll out other support measures to avert a sharper slowdown.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for January delivery fell 320 yuan to finish at 11,365 yuan ($1,787.8) per tonne.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for November delivery last traded at 126.5 US cents per kg, down 0.9 cent.