Rubber Recovers From Three-Month Low on U.S. Job Data, Yen

Rubber recovered from a three-month low after U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly fell and the Japanese currency traded near a 3 1/2 year low, improving the appeal of yen-denominated contracts.

The contract for delivery in August on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose as much as 2.4 percent to 284.2 yen a kilogram ($2,962 a metric ton), before trading at 280.5 yen at 10:49 a.m. local time. Futures settled 277.6 yen yesterday, the lowest settlement for a most-active contract since Dec. 14. August futures have fallen 6 percent this week.

Global equities rallied this week after employment reports in the U.S. and Australia topped estimates, building confidence the economic recovery is gaining strength. Japan’s upper house is preparing to vote on Haruhiko Kuroda’s nomination as Bank of Japan governor.

“The U.S. jobs data increased investor confidence in the nation’s economic recovery, spurring purchases of rubber futures,” said Kazuhiko Saito, analyst at broker Fujitomi Co (8740) in Tokyo. “Rubber also rebounded as it’s drop to a three-month low attracted buyers.”

The number of people filing claims for jobless benefits averaged 346,750 over the past four weeks, the lowest level since March 2008, according to data from the Labor Department in Washington.

The contract for September delivery added 0.2 percent to 22,820 yuan ($3,669) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Thai rubber free-on-board lost 2.3 percent to 86.30 baht ($2.92) a kilogram yesterday, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.

To contact the reporters on this story: Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok at ssuwannakij@bloomberg.net; Aya Takada in Tokyo at atakada2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net