CCORDING to Bloomberg, rubber has recovered from a nine-month low, and has finally leashed the worst quarterly decline in a year, amidst optimism the US Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus after slower-than-estimated growth in the country’s economy.
The contract for delivery in December gained 1.3% to end at 230.1 yen a kilogram (US$2,345 a metric tonne) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. Futures have lost 16% this quarter, the most since the three months ended June 2012.
Asian stocks extended a global rebound, following gains of US indexes after the world’s biggest economy revised its reading for first-quarter growth lower and as a drop in Chinese interest-rate swaps eased concerns over a cash crunch.
“The US GDP revision lower yesterday makes market participants believe that the Fed’s tapering might be postponed,” said Naohiro Niimura, a partner at research company Market Risk Advisory Co. in Tokyo.
Rubber for January delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange added 0.7% to close at 17,760 yuan (US$2,888) a tonne. Natural-rubber inventories rose for a third week, climbing 48 tonnes to 114,556 tonnes, the bourse said June 21.
Recent pricing reported by the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand placed Thai rubber free-on-board, unchanged at Bht85.40 (US$2.74) a kilogramme. It also added that tapping has been disrupted in Thailand’s main plantation area in the south due to rains affecting 40% to 60% of the area.