Price Rubber Closed Rebound More than 1%

Rubber prices managed to rebound with a gain of more than 1% in late trading today, Monday (12/3/2018), amid optimism about the economy of the United States (US).

The price of rubber for delivery in August 2018 at Tokyo Commodity Exchange (Tocom), closed up 1.53% or 2.90 points at 192.70 yen per kilogram (kg).

Though the rubber had continued to weaken to the level of 189 after the morning was opened in the red zone with a decrease of 0.05% or 0.10 points in the position of 189.70.

On Friday (9/3/2018), the rubber ended down 0.99% or 1.90 points at 189.80, weakening for the third consecutive day.

Meanwhile, Japanese stocks managed to extend gains in late third day trading in a row, fueled by optimism surrounding the United States economy (US).

Electronics and automotive companies were the biggest boost to the Topix today after the S & P 500 gained 1.7 percent on Friday.

The release of US payroll data on Friday reassured investors that the US economy continued to strengthen without a rapid rise in wages in the previous month that could trigger inflation worries.

In February 2018, the number of US jobs increased by 313,000, topping forecasts for a gain of 205,000. The wage data shows the average hourly income increased 2.6% from the previous year or missed from the forecast of 2.8%.

According to Market Risk Advisory analyst Naohiro Niimura, US payroll data released Friday last week is strong enough, raising expectations that the economy of Uncle Sam's country will continue to rise. "The increase in stock indices also gave a positive sentiment to investors," he said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Rubber is able to rebound even as the performance of the yen currency strengthens. The yen appreciated 0.16 percent, or 0.17 points, to 106.64 per dollar at 13:58 pm, after ending down 0.55 percent at 106.81 in Friday's trading (9/3).

In contrast to rubber, WTI oil price April 2018 contract slipped into the red zone and fell 0.13% or 0.08 points to US $ 61.96 per barrel at 13:49 pm, after trading on Friday (9/3) ended up 3.19% at position 62.04.