Tokyo
Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for rubber prices in
Southeast Asia, inched lower on Thursday as weak data from China raised
concerns about a slowdown in the world's biggest rubber buyer. Growth in
China's industrial output fell to a 17-year low in the first two months of the
year and the jobless rate rose, pointing to further weakness in the world's
second-biggest economy that is likely to trigger more support measures from
Beijing.
The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber
contract for August delivery finished 0.6 yen lower at 196.5 yen ($1.76) per
kg. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May
delivery fell 80 yuan to finish at 12,030 yuan ($1,791) per tonne.
TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures
contract for September delivery closed down 0.1 yen at 170.6 yen per kg. The
front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for April delivery
last traded at 148.4 US cents per kg, up 0.7 percent.
