Tokyo Futures Jump On Supply Concerns

Tokyo rubber futures rebounded sharply for a second consecutive day on Thursday (Mar 17) on supply concerns and hopes of a possible intervention by producing countries to prop up prices.
FUNDAMENTAL
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for August delivery rose more than 4 percent to the session's high of 385.5 yen ($4.77) per kg.
However, prices were still well below a record high of 535.7 yen, hit in mid-Feb. The benchmark contract touched a four-month low earlier this week.
The most active rubber contract on Shanghai Commodity Exchange for May delivery fell 335 yuan to stay at 33,910 yuan per kg by 0119 GMT.
The world's top rubber producing countries, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, will hold an urgent meeting this week to find ways to support prices that have collapsed this month, a senior industry official said on Tuesday (Mar 15).
U.S. oil prices slipped as much as 1.4 percent to below $97 on Thursday (Mar 17), as the worsening nuclear crisis in Japan offset intensifying clashes in the streets of Bahrain.
The yen soared to a record high against the dollar on Thursday (Mar 17) in chaotic trading as a break of the previous peak triggered a host of stop-loss and option-related selling, which in turn caused a cascade of algorithmic sales.
(Reuters, March 17, 2011)