TOCOM jumps with Shanghai after four days of losses

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended up 3.9 percent on Thursday, rising along with Shanghai futures, as bargain-hunting ensued with China’s stock markets rebounding, brokers said.

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, had fallen nearly 9 percent over the past four sessions amid worries over China’s slumping stock markets and the Greek debt crisis.

China’s stock markets , which had plunged roughly 30 percent over the last three weeks, rebounded on Thursday after drastic measures were unveiled by the Chinese securities regulator that ban shareholders with large stakes in listed firms from selling.

“Rubber markets followed Chinese stocks higher on short-covering after recent losses,” said a Tokyo-based market source. “It was all about Chinese stocks today.”

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for December delivery finished 7.8 yen higher at 209.6 yen per kg. It touched a 2-1/2-month low of 199.4 yen in the night session on Wednesday, which is incorporated into Thursday’s trade.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery rose 175 yuan to finish at 12,235 yuan per tonne.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 144.0 U.S. cents per kg, up 3.8 cents.