Rubber futures fell today as the rally of the Japanese yen put pressure on the yen-priced assets. The currency was falling as Japan’s government was pushing it down to protect Japanese exporters. Yet recently the yen has started to rise. Analysts speculated that the government had allowed the currency to strengthen a bit ahead of the Group of Twenty meeting to avoid being labeled as a currency manipulator.
On top of that, concerns about global economic growth reduced demand for commodities. The eurozone economy continued to shrink as gross domestic product fell 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. One of the biggest world economies remains in recession and that does not bode well for raw materials.
July futures for delivery of rubber fell as much as 3.1 percent to ¥320.7 per kilogram ($3,458 per metric ton) before trading at 322.8 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
