* Japanese rubber futures edged lower for a fourth day and
ended
the week in red on Friday, as rubber prices lost their
supply-driven lift on the end of wintering, while lacklustre
economic data dented investor confidence further.
* Osaka Exchange's rubber contract for October delivery finished 0.6 yen, or 0.3%, lower at 208.9 yen ($1.55)
per kg.
* The benchmark OSE contract fell about 2.0% for the week,
shedding gains of 2.1% the week earlier.
* The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for
September delivery fell 220 yuan to finish at 12,015
yuan ($1,738.26) per tonne, snapping a four-day rally.
* Japan's benchmark Nikkei average closed up 0.90%.
* "Overall weak macroeconomic data and end of wintering put
a lid
on prices," said Farah Miller, CEO of Helixtap Technologies, an
independent rubber-focused data company.
* "Otherwise, on the physical front, demand has been really
poor
from China; some days competitive offers are met with no bids,"
she added.
* Data this week showed new Chinese bank loans tumbled more
sharply than expected in April, consumer prices rose at its
slowest pace in more than two years and imports contracted,
alongside slower exports.
* Similarly, U.S. jobless claims jumped to a 1-1/2-year high
last
week, while uncertainties regarding the U.S. debt ceiling
weighed sentiment; a default could spell trouble for the global
economy.
* Oil prices were set for their fourth weekly decline. Lower
oil
prices incentivise manufacturers to shift to synthetic rubber
derived from oil, pressuring the natural rubber market.
* Most Asian share markets were subdued on Friday and the
dollar
held onto its gains from safe-haven flows, after soft economic
data from U.S. and China fuelled concerns of a global slowdown.
* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's
SICOM
platform for June delivery last traded at 136.5 U.S.
cents per kg, down 0.3%.
($1 = 135.0500 yen)
($1 = 6.9121 yuan)
(Reporting by Carman Chew; editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)
For other physical rubber prices in Thailand, click on . For more details on Indonesian and Malaysian prices click on and .
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