TOCOM rubber inches lower following Shanghai slump

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures inched lower in light trade on Monday, dragged down by weaker Shanghai futures, which fell below 10,000 yuan level, but managed to eke out its first monthly gain in six months after touching a more-than-six-year low earlier this month.

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May delivery finished lower at 0.7 yen, or 0.4%, at 162.1 yen per kg.

For the month, it climbed 1.1%, marking its first monthly increase since May.

“Slumping Shanghai futures and softer commodity prices prompted selling in Tokyo,” said Satoru Yoshida, commodity analyst, Rakuten Securities.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 230 yuan to finish at 9,880 yuan (US$1,544.21) per tonne, diving below a psychological floor of 10,000 yuan.

On the downside, oil dipped on Monday as traders remained cautious ahead of an OPEC meet later this week and as a widely expected US interest rate hike strengthened the dollar.

The overall trade was thin as investors awaited China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which is due on Tuesday.

Activity in China’s manufacturing sector likely shrunk for the fourth month in November, a Reuters poll showed, underlining persistent sluggishness in the world’s second-largest economy.

“If the Chinese data shows strength, rubber prices will likely be lifted,” Yoshida said.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for December delivery last traded at 115.0 US cents per kg, down 1.2 US cent.

(US$1 = 6.3981 Chinese yuan renminbi)