Japan futures drop amid uncertainty on supply, China economy
Updates for market close with analyst quotes
SINGAPORE, Nov 29 (Reuters) -
Japanese rubber futures declined on Friday but gained for the week, as investors weighed supply concerns against an uncertain economic outlook for top consumer China.
The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for May delivery JRUc6, 0#2JRU: closed down 4.1 yen or 1.12% at 363.0 yen ($2.43) per kg.
On the other hand, the May rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) SNRv1 rose 160 yuan, or 0.88%, to 18,260 yuan ($2,526.74) per metric ton.
For the week, the OSE contract climbed 1.82% and the SHFE contract rose 4.61%.
"This week was a mixed bag," said Farah Miller, founder of independent rubber-focused data firm Helixtap Technologies.
While some flooding in the south of Thailand supported Thai rubber prices, the rains were largely restricted to the southern region and were "unlikely to have too much significant impact" on production compared to earlier this year, Miller said.
Concerns over declining global supply and the potential for aggressive demand ahead of additional U.S. tariffs are driving a strong uptrend in natural rubber, said Jom Jacob, chief analyst at Indian analysis firm What Next Rubber.
However, uncertainty over China's fiscal stimulus, concerns over the trade risks associated with higher U.S. tariffs, and the Japanese yen's sharp gains, are expected to limit gains in natural rubber prices, Jacob said.
Officials in Beijing are racing to limit the economy's vulnerabilities ahead of a second Donald Trump presidency, as Chinese firms struggle to remain profitable in an economy facing much higher growth risks from trade shocks this time around.
The yen jumped as much as 1.2% to a six-week high of 150 per U.S. dollar JPY=EBS, which makes yen-denominated assets less affordable to overseas buyers. USD/ FRX/
The front-month December rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform STFc1 last traded at 192.3 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.7%.
($1 = 149.6400 yen)
($1 = 7.2267 yuan)
Reporting by Gabrielle Ng; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Varun H K
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