VINACHEM

FUNDAMENTALS

* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May delivery <0#2JRU:> was up 4.7 yen, or 1.7 percent, at 285.6 yen per kg as of 0045 GMT, after rising as much as 286.9 yen.

* On Friday, the most active Shanghai rubber contract for May delivery fell 2 percent to close at 26,085 yuan ($4,100) per tonne. Volume stood at 858,258 lots.

* Oil prices inched up after a rally on Friday as an agreement for a closer euro zone fiscal union and news of a Chinese fund for U.S. and European investment lifted the euro and equities markets.

* The yen was steady against the dollar at 77.63.

* India's natural rubber imports edged up 4.6 percent in November to 15,069 tonnes, the state-run Rubber Board said on Friday, and steep falls in prices on overseas markets are likely to continue to make imports attractive for tyre makers.

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MARKET NEWS

* The Nikkei share average rebounded on Monday after European Union leaders came to an historic agreement to draft a new treaty for deeper economic integration, easing worries about the region’s debt crisis.

* As they head into 2012, the world’s top multinational manufacturers are trying to find a safe route through an economy that is known more for the promise of volatility than for the prospect of surefire growth.

DATA EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Monday: – 0500 Japan Consumer confid. index Nov 2011 – 0530 India Industrial Output y/y Oct 2011 – 1600 U.S. USDA export inspections Weekly – 1900 U.S. Federal budgert Nov