TOCOM ends up 0.6pc on weak yen, China GDP

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures extended gains on Tuesday, finishing up 0.6 percent, as the market got support from a weaker yen and data showing China's economic slowdown was not as bad as investors had expected.

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, were still down around 9.4 percent from a six-month high hit two weeks earlier that came amid worries over supplies from flood-hit major producers in Malaysia and Thailand.

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for June delivery finished 1.1 yen higher at 195.2 yen per kg.

China's economic growth held steady at 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, slightly better than expected but still hovering at its weakest since the global financial crisis.

The world's second-largest economy grew 7.4 percent in the whole of 2014, undershooting the government's 7.5 percent target and the weakest expansion in 24 years.

"A slight weakening in the yen supported the market," said a Tokyo-based broker source. "Chinese data showing slowing economy was not that negative also supported the market."

The U.S. dollar was quoted around 118.12 yen on Tuesday, compared with around 117.12 yen on Monday afternoon.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 30 yuan to finish at 12,675 yuan per tonne.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for February delivery last traded at 137.60 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.4 cent.