TOCOM Gold

TOCOM gold futures prices were higher last week on the back of a higher U.S. dollar spot price for gold and a slightly weaker yen against the greenback. The most actively traded forward contract on TOCOM rose by 112 yen per gram or about 2.8% for the week. The forward contract closed the day trading session last Friday at 4123 yen and the high for the week of 4175 yen was reached during Wednesday’s trading. Prices rose on the first three trading days of the week in Tokyo following higher U.S. dollar spot prices on market enthusiasm for the results of negotiations that took place in Europe at the end of the previous week on the seemingly endless talks on solving sovereign debt problems there. However, weak economic data released in the U.S. later in the week and reports of continuing tepid demand in India took some of the enthusiasm out of gold markets and prices fell towards the end of the week on global gold markets including TOCOM. Data released in the U.S. showed that U.S. manufacturing fell in June and a disappointing employment figures added to renewed fears of deflation by some traders and analysts. It was reported last week that gold exports from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland fell by around 25% in May from the previous month which also shows that physical demand for gold may be waning in China as well as India. Trading volume for gold futures on TOCOM was low last week as the 4^th of July holiday in the U.S. kept markets relatively quiet. Open interest for TOCOM gold futures fell slightly last week and stood at 131,275 open contracts as of last Friday.

TOCOM Gold Daily Chart – Forward Contract (as of July 6)

 

TOCOM Gold Forward Contract Weekly Trading Data

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Change	Volume	Open Interest
July 6	4148	4168	4115	4123	-25	34820	131275
July 5	4147	4174	4145	4148	-9	22983	130855
July 4	4132	4175	4127	4157	34	37290	131327
July 3	4085	4129	4072	4123	45	36554	131724
July 2	4026	4133	4012	4078	67	52672	132677

 

TOCOM Platinum

TOCOM platinum futures also started off last week with a bang as prices rallied higher for the first three trading days of the week before stumbling a little on Thursday and Friday. The most actively traded forward contract surged by about 4.7% or 171 yen last week and closed last Friday’s day trading session at 3797 yen per gram after reaching a weekly high of 3855 yen during Thursday’s trading. Trading volume was moderate and open interest decreased slightly and stood at 45,400 open contracts as of last Friday. TOCOM platinum futures made strong gains early in the week due to optimism that Europe was not going to implode in the near future, positive automobile sales figures for June that were released in the U.S. and reports that platinum mining companies were increasing plans to halt production of some mines as profit margins have disappeared for some projects. The bad news for platinum producing companies continues as production costs continue to rise and market prices continue to stagnate. Large mine closings by mining companies in South Africa and Zimbabwe have been announced over the past few months and the pace is increasing. This has some analysts and traders predicting that this will eventually erase the oversupply of platinum in the market place and will eventually cause prices for platinum to increase but this will take time to play out. The U.S. reported strong automobile sales in June but this was somewhat balanced out by slack demand in Europe and slowing demand in China.

TOCOM Platinum Daily Chart – Forward Contract (as of July 6)

 

TOCOM Platinum Forward Contract Weekly Trading Data

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Change	Volume	Open Interest
July   6	3828	3848	3788	3797	-21	11705	45400
July 5	3823	3855	3801	3818	-23	11291	45352
July 4	3779	3850	3776	3841	64	15422	45169
July 3	3707	3787	3692	3777	80	14990	46484
July 2	3628	3748	3617	3697	71	17280	46657

 

TOCOM Rubber

Prices of TOCOM natural rubber futures surged higher for the second consecutive week as the benchmark forward contract rose by about 6.2% or 14.9 yen per kilogram. The forward contract closed last Friday’s day trading session at 255.4 yen after reaching a one month high of 259.6 yen on Wednesday. Prices of natural rubber rose last week on news that European countries reached agreement on how to deal with their sovereign debt problems, higher oil prices, talks of intervention in the market to support prices by Indonesia and robust car sales in June in the U.S. The Indonesian government said last week that they were considering setting a minimum price in the market for natural rubber in cooperation with Thailand and Malaysia but no concrete plans were announced. Prices of rubber futures have fallen by around 25% over the past three months and this has caused rubber producing countries in SE Asia to consider plans to intervene in markets to prop up prices with Thailand already having announced a plan to buy physical rubber in the open market. However, some analysts and traders remain skeptical as to whether this would be successful as rubber stock levels remain high in China and Japan. Higher than expected automobile sales for June in the U.S. buoyed market sentiment and figures are on track for 2012 to be the best sales year since 2007. Trading volume on TOCOM for rubber futures was moderate early in the week before losing steam towards the end of the week and open interest was little changed.

TOCOM Rubber Daily Chart – Forward Contract (as of July 6)

 

TOCOM Rubber Forward Contract Weekly Trading Data

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Change	Volume	Open Interest
July 6	256.0	259.0	252.6	255.4	0.8	7880	19912
July 5	254.5	256.0	252.1	254.6	-1.8	8156	19798
July 4	252.0	259.6	251.2	256.4	5.2	11994	19687
July 3	246.7	253.0	244.7	251.2	4.8	13204	19682
July 2	241.1	252.2	238.0	246.4	5.9	13309	20319

 

Exchange and Industry News

TOCOM Trading Volume and News for June 2012

TOCOM has issued a news release containing trading data and developments at the exchange for June 2012. Click on the link for details.

http://www.tocom.or.jp/data/geppou/gaikyo201206_e.pdf

 

TGE Monthly Trading Volume Data June 2012

TGE has released their monthly trading volume statistics for June 2012. Click on the link below for details.

http://www.tge.or.jp/english/whats/news/pdf/gyoumu/E201206.report.pdf

 

Disclaimer:

This market review and news report contains information and data from sources believed to be reliable and accurate as of the date of publication but has not been independently verified. This report is for informational purposes only and no employee, director or connected person to Dot Commodity, Inc. takes any responsibility for the information or correctness of the content contained in the report. Dot Commodity, Inc. is strictly an online commodity futures broker and does not give any trading recommendations or financial advice to any of its clients, perspective clients or readers of this report. No part of this market review & news report is to be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any commodity futures or financial contract or product of any kind.