Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures were steady on Thursday, after hitting a 2-week high earlier in the session, with investors on the sidelines ahead of a long holiday weekend in Japan.
Japanese financial markets will be closed on Friday for the Mountain Day public holiday.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for January delivery was up 0.1 yen at 215.5 yen ($1.96)per kg as of 0025 GMT, after touching the highest since July 26 at 217.5 yen earlier in the session.
* Rubber inventories at TOCOM warehouses as of July 31 stood at 3,871 tonnes, up from 3,852 tonnes on July 20 but down 38 percent from a year earlier, according to the exchange's latest report.
* Bridgestone Corp, the world's biggest tyre maker, on Wednesday lifted its net profit forecast for this calendar year by 3 percent to 289 billion yen ($2.6 billion) due to higher-than-expected first-half profit, backed by product price rises that passed on higher material costs.
* North Korea is working on plans for a missile strike near the U.S. Pacific
territory of Guam, calling President Donald Trump's warning of "fire and fury" a "load of nonsense" and that only "absolute force can work on him."
* China's factory price inflation held steady in July in a positive sign for industrial output and profits for the third quarter, even though a government-led drive to reduce debt is expected to cool earnings and economic growth by year-end.
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MARKET NEWS
* Oil prices were about 1 percent higher on Wednesday after a report showed U.S. refineries processed record amounts of crude in the latest week, eating into inventories, although a surprise jump in gasoline stockpiles limited price gains.
* The U.S. dollar slipped 0.26 percent lower against the yen to 110.01 yen, as increased tensions between the United States and North Korea led investors to look for assets deemed as less risky.
* Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average inched higher on Thursday, after U.S. equities ended slightly lower the previous day.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
* The following data is expected on Thursday: (Time in GMT)
0645 France Industrial output Jun
0830 Britain Industrial output Jun
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
($1 = 110.0900 yen)
