SINGAPORE Japanese rubber futures rose to their highest in three weeks on Monday, tracking strength in the Shanghai market as authorities a day earlier vowed to coordinate support to resolve local government debt, while weak Asian currencies also lent some support. Osaka Exchange’s rubber contract for January delivery recorded a five-day uptick, finishing 1.5 yen, or 0.8%, higher at 200.1 yen ($1.38) per kg. The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery jumped 180 yuan to finish at 13,000 yuan ($1,777.17) per metric ton. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average closed up 0.37%. China will coordinate financial support to resolve local government debt problems, the central bank said in a statement on Sunday.
The world’s second-largest economy cut its one-year benchmark lending rate on Monday but surprised markets by keeping the five-year rate unchanged amid broader concerns about a rapidly weakening currency. A weak Japanese yen also helped make assets dominated by the currency more affordable for overseas buyers. The yen last softened to 145.41 per dollar, still hovering at support levels around which authorities stepped in last year. On supply, electric-vehicle batteries and other car parts, including tires, are the latest products under scrutiny as part of Washington’s effort to stamp out US links to forced labor in Chinese supply chains, according to a document seen by Reuters, agency statistics and sources.
Still, rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.4 % from a week earlier, the exchange said last Friday. Asian stocks stumbled on Monday after China delivered a smaller cut to lending rates than markets had counted on, continuing Beijing’s run of disappointingly frugal stimulus steps.
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