Tokyo futures fall, oil, other commodities eyed

TOKYO: Key Tokyo rubber futures eased on Friday after commodities plunged broadly the day before on the dollar's rise, but losses are likely to be limited as commodities markets come off lows.

The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for November delivery fell 3 yen or 0.8 percent to 357.4 yen per kg as of 0026 GMT.

The front-month June contract will expire later on Friday. The contract for December delivery will become the benchmark.

The most active Shanghai rubber contract for September delivery fell 300 yuan, or 0.9 percent, to close at 32,090 yuan ($4,965.29) per tonne on Thursday. It fell as much as 2 percent. Volume fell to 740,296 lots from Wednesday's 996,880 lots.

The euro extended its rebound from one-week lows in Asia on Friday following news Greece has reached a deal with international lenders on an austerity plan that would bring it one step closer to securing much-needed financial aid.

The dollar index, which tracks the US currency's performance against a basket of major currency, fell to 75.278 from a one-week high of 75.795.

Oil bounced back more than a dollar on Friday after slumping in the previous session on news the world's top consumers released emergency oil reserves for only the third time ever.

For top stories on the rubber market and other news, click, or Industrialized nations agreed to release oil from emergency stockpiles for the third time in history, sending crude prices tumbling and providing some support to a faltering global economy.

US Republicans walked out of budget talks on Thursday, setting up a showdown between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner over how to extend US borrowing and avoid a looming debt default.

Greece has won the consent of a team of EU-IMF inspectors for its new five-year austerity plan on Thursday after committing to an additional round of tax rises and spending cuts, sources with knowledge of the talks said.

The Nikkei stock average edged up on Friday as news that Greece has agreed to a five-year austerity plan offset falls in oil shares on tumbling oil prices.

US stocks closed way off session lows on Thursday on news Greece agreed to a five-year austerity plan, but lingering economic uncertainty ultimately drove the S&P 500 lower, keeping a downward trend in place.

Copyright Reuters, 2011