As reported by Bloomberg, the strengthening of rubber prices on Wednesday (26/07) occurs following the weakening of Japan's yen exchange rate, thus increasing investor interest for rubber. Kazuhiko Saito, analyst at Fujitomi, said the weakening of the yen is the key support for rubber prices today.

"Efforts by major rubber exporting countries to increase prices also encourage rubber prices," he added.

The yen was down 0.07 percent, or 0.08 points, to 111.97 yen per US dollar by 10:39 am local Jakarta time.

Rubber Futures (December 2017 Contract at TOCOM):

19 July 20 July
21 July 24 July 25 July 26 July
Price
(Yen/kg)
207.70 216.20 214.50 209.30 211.50 213.70¹

¹ 10:26 am local Jakarta time
Source: Bisnis Indonesia

Meanwhile, the projected decline in US oil reserves has been heating up prices. After breaking through the USD $48 per barrel level, the nearest bullish target is now the USD $49.50 per barrel level. By 10:20 am local Jakarta time on Wednesday (26/07), West Texas Intermediate (WTI) had risen 0.97 percent to USD $48.35 a barrel (September 2017 contract), the highest level since 6 June 2017. However, regarding the year-to-date performance the price is still down around 10 percent.

A report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) notes that US oil stocks were down by 10.2 million barrels at Friday (21/07). The official data will be released later today by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

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