Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures bounced back on Wednesday as investors adjusted their positions after three sessions of losses and as Shanghai futures regained ground, but caution remained over China’s equities market, dealers said.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for January delivery <0#2JRU:> rose 2.3 yen, or 1.1 percent, to settle at 204.9 yen ($1.66) per kg.
“Since the benchmark held above this month’s low of 199.4 yen on Tuesday, some funds were clearing some of their short positions today,” said Jiong Gu, an analyst at Yutaka Shoji Co.
A rebound in Shanghai futures also supported TOCOM, dealers said.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery rose 125 yuan to finish at 12,695 yuan ($2,044.65) per tonne.
“Also, some investors were rushing to switch positions, buying December contracts while selling January contracts which offer higher liquidity,” Gu said.
“We expect buys and sells to be in a tussle around 205 yen for a while.”
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 140.0 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.1 cent.
