Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures pared most of their earlier gains on Wednesday, dragged down by weak Shanghai futures amid an uncertain outlook for the Chinese economy.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, got little support from better-than-expected Chinese economic growth data amid selling pressure from sluggish Shanghai futures, brokers said.
“There was no big impact from Chinese GDP data,” said a Tokyo-based broker. “At TOCOM, investors were in a selling mode.”
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for December delivery <0#2JRU:> finished 0.2 yen higher at 208.8 yen per kg.
China’s economy grew an annual 7 percent in the second quarter, beating analysts’ forecasts, though its volatile stock markets took a sharp dive in a reminder of the threats to Beijing’s efforts to direct the economy out of a slowdown.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for January delivery fell 85 yuan to finish at 13,225 yuan per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 143.30 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.2 cent.
