TOCOM ends higher on short-covering; stronger yen caps gains

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures erased earlier losses to end higher on Thursday, as investors unwound their short positions in late session while a stronger yen against the dollar and weaker Shanghai futures capped gains.

"There were no fresh news, but some technical traders initially tried to push prices down, but decided to unwind positions later as the market did not fall as much as they wanted," a Tokyo-based dealer said.

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for January delivery finished 0.3 yen higher at 214.5 yen ($1.93) per kg, after diving to a low of 211.2 yen earlier in the session.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 100 yuan to finish at 16,115 yuan ($2,392) per tonne.

The dollar slipped 0.2 percent to 110.90 yen on Thursday, edging near 110.625, its 5-1/2-week low touched on Monday.

A stronger yen makes yen-denominated assets less affordable when purchased in other currencies.

"As many rubber dealers and traders across Asia were away for Indonesia where a local industry body is holding an annual event, trades were quiet and trading is expected to be thin on Friday," the dealer said.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 148.5 U.S. cents per kg, down 1.1 cents.

($1 = 111.0600 yen)

($1 = 6.7356 Chinese yuan)