Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures edged higher on Monday, helped by technical buying, but a deadlock in US-Sino trade talks boosted concerns over the outlook for the global economy and capped gains.
* The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for October delivery finished 0.6 yen, or 0.3 percent, higher at 187.3 yen ($1.7) per kg.
* The United States and China appeared at a deadlock over trade negotiations on Sunday as Washington demanded promises of concrete changes to Chinese law and Beijing said it would not swallow any “bitter fruit” that harmed its interests.
* “There is a technical support for the TOCOM benchmark at around 186 yen,” said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities.
* “But given a disappointing result from the US-China trade talks which keeps a lid on gains, I expect the TOCOM to stay in a narrow trading range between 186 and 190 yen for a while,” he said.
* The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery rose 90 yuan to finish at 11,905 yuan ($1,732) per tonne.
* The US dollar was quoted around 109.66 yen, compared with around 109.73 yen on Friday afternoon
* Oil futures rose on Monday on increasing concerns about supply disruptions in the crucial producing region of the Middle East even as investors and traders fretted over global economic growth prospects amid a standoff in the Sino-US trade talks.
* Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average dropped on Monday as most cyclical sectors lost ground after the trade war between the United States and China escalated, while a fall in US futures hurt sentiment.
* TOCOM’s technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for November delivery closed down 0.2 percent at 162.3 yen per kg
* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for June delivery last traded at 149.5 US cents per kg, up 0.1 percent.
