* Japanese rubber futures were mixed on Thursday, as traders weighed indicators of stock market strength with a stronger yen and expectations of further U.S. interest rate hikes.
* The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for August
delivery was down 0.1 yen, or 0.04%, at 222.4 yen
($1.62) per kg, as of 0205 GMT.
* The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange
(SHFE) for
May delivery was down 135 yuan, or 1.05%, at 12,245 yuan
($1,756.81) per tonne.
* Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened 0.72%
higher.
* In the second day of his testimony to Congress on
Wednesday,
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed his hawkish
message, though struck a cautious note that debate on the scale
and path of future rate hikes was still underway and would be
data-dependent.
* Japan's economy grew a tad slower than initially estimated
in
the fourth quarter, revised government data showed on Thursday,
weighed down by weak consumption and underscoring the fragility
of its recovery.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.20% to 137.08 per
dollar,
as of 0207 GMT.
* A stronger yen makes yen-denominated assets less
affordable when
purchased in other currencies.
* Asian shares were tense while the U.S. dollar was perched
near a
three-month top on Thursday after a spate of economic data
overnight appeared to support Powell's hawkish guidance that
rates would go higher and faster.
* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's
SICOM
platform for April delivery last traded at 135.6 U.S.
cents per kg, down 0.6%.
($1 = 137.0900 yen)
($1 = 6.9700 yuan)
(Reporting by Carman Chew; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
