Market and product
Rubber Advances After China’s Manufacturing Expands, Yen Weakens
Rubber climbed, heading for a secondweekly advance, after data showed China’s manufacturing expandedfor the first time in three months in October, boosting theoutlook for demand in the world’s biggest consumer.
Rubber for April delivery gained 1.5 percent to end at 259yen a kilogram ($3,237 a metric ton) on the Tokyo CommodityExchange. The most-active contract has gained 0.5 percent thisweek after rising 0.9 percent the week before.
A Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.2 in October from49.8 in September, the National Bureau of Statistics and ChinaFederation of Logistics and Purchasing said today. That matchedthe median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 30 economists. Areading above 50 indicates expansion. A final reading of aseparate purchasing managers’ index from HSBC Holdings Plc andMarkit Economics was 49.5 last month from 47.9 in September.
“The data eased concerns about China’s economic slowdown,leading to buybacks of futures,” Takaki Shigemoto, an analystat research company JSC Corp. in Tokyo, said by phone.
The reports may bolster speculation China’s economy willpick up this quarter after industrial production, exports andretail sales accelerated in September. The data may also reducepressure on outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao to roll out morestimulus measures during a once-a-decade power handover thatbegins with a Communist Party congress next week.
Futures also gained as the Japanese currency weakenedagainst the dollar, raising the appeal of yen-based contracts,Shigemoto said. Japan’s central bank may ease monetary policyfurther to support the economy after expanding its asset-purchase program by 11 trillion yen this week, he said.
Persistent rains in southern Thailand have disruptedtapping, raising concerns that supply may drop, said SureeratKunthongjun, an analyst at AGROW Enterprise Ltd.
Rubber for January delivery gained 0.2 percent to 24,830yuan ($3,980) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Thairubber free-on-board rose 0.5 percent to 93.45 baht ($3.04) akilogram today, Rubber Research Institute of Thailand data show.
