Japanese rubber futures logs weekly loss on inflation worries

SHANGHAI: Japanese rubber futures declined for the third consecutive session on Friday, and logged a weekly loss, as global inflation data fuelled worries about higher interest rates and dampened risk appetite. The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for September delivery fell 4.6 yen, or 1.16percent, to 391 yen (USD2.45) per kg. The contract has lost 0.69percent this week. The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery shed 225 yuan, or 1.32percent, to 16,815 yuan (USD2,460.96) per metric ton.

The most active May butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE dropped 820 yuan, or 4.91percent, to 15,880 yuan per metric ton. A string of inflation data from across the world dampened sentiment for industrial commodities.

Japanese wholesale inflation jumped in March, prompting the central bank’s deputy governor to warn of stagflation risks, highlighting mounting price pressures that could push the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates as early as this month.

Japan’s corporate goods price index, which tracks prices firms charge each other for goods and services, rose 2.6percent year-on-year in March, BOJ data showed on Friday, exceeding the median market forecast of 2.4percent.

US consumer prices also are expected to post their biggest increase in nearly four years in March, as higher oil prices driven by the Iran war and persistent tariff pass-through further erode hopes for an interest rate cut this year.