TOCOM Gold

The prices of TOCOM gold futures surged higher last week along with most other commodities and equity markets. The most actively traded forward contract rose by 230 yen or about 5.7% for the week and closed the day trading session last Friday at 4247 yen per gram. The high for the week was 4285 yen which was reached during Friday’s trading. Prices of gold futures in Tokyo followed the U.S. dollar spot price higher in spite of a stronger yen against the greenback. Markets rose last week on the news that European leaders had worked out a deal to tackle and deal with the myriad of sovereign debt problems that have weighed on markets in recent months. Some analysts also think that gold and other commodity prices have been rising because of expectations that European and U.S. authorities will take further steps to try and stimulate economic growth and high unemployment through quantitative easing or money printing. Prices of commodities also rallied on news that China’s manufacturing picked up slightly last month after falling for the previous three months. In physical news, there were reports last week that there was strong demand in India for gold and silver due to the Hindu festival of Diwali and also the central bank of Thailand had increased their gold reserve holdings by about 500,000 ounces and the total amount held is now about 4.9 million ounces. Trading volume was moderate last week and open interest slightly fell by about 2,000 contracts.

 

TOCOM Gold Daily Chart – Forward Contract (as of Oct 28)

 

TOCOM Gold Forward Contract Weekly Trading Data

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Change	Volume	Open Interest
Oct 28	4193	4285	4162	4247	39	80058	129632
Oct 27	4229	4235	4203	4208	20	64902	130013
Oct 26	4068	4209	4038	4188	130	95908	124833
Oct 25	4048	4068	4036	4058	-9	33847	129787
Oct 24	4010	4069	3995	4067	50	50791	130473

 

TOCOM Platinum

TOCOM platinum futures prices fared even better than gold prices on TOCOM last week. The most actively traded forward contract jumped by about 6.9% or 253 yen and closed Friday at 4034 yen per gram. Investors and traders alike became more positive last week on the prospect of platinum prices because of positive economic data released in the U.S. and China last week and on the deal that was struck among European leaders to try and solve the problems of high sovereign debt in many EU countries. The forward contract climbed back above 4,000 yen last Friday and hit a high of 4079 yen. In physical news, there were reports of higher demand for physical platinum in China after the recent fall in prices. Additionally, the CEO of Impala Platinum (Implats), the world’s second largest producer of platinum, said at the company’s annual meeting that he expected the U.S. dollar spot price of platinum to hit 2,000 before the end of 2012. Trading volume was moderate and open interest fell by about 1,500 contracts last week and stood at 42,300 open contracts as of last Friday.

 

TOCOM Platinum Daily Chart – Forward Contract (as of Oct 28)

 

TOCOM Platinum Forward Contract Weekly Trading Data

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Change	Volume	Open Interest
Oct 28	3930	4079	3921	4034	117	26275	42300
Oct 27	3918	3957	3911	3917	81	23585	42593
Oct 26	3832	3880	3781	3836	5	16185	42103
Oct 25	3774	3850	3748	3831	46	16406	43320
Oct 24	3702	3786	3690	3785	70	15494	43474

 

TOCOM Rubber

Prices of TOCOM rubber futures rocketed higher last week by almost 10% as traders bid up prices on hopes that global economic growth would not slow down as much as previously feared. Early in the week oil prices rose on better than expected economic data released by China and this helped to propel rubber prices higher on Monday and Tuesday and then the news that EU leaders had reached an agreement on how to deal with sovereign debt problems sent most global markets higher later in the week and rubber prices were no exception. The benchmark forward contract closed the week at 309.3 yen per kilo, which was up 27.6 yen for the week. In physical news, heavy flooding in Thailand including Bangkok and surrounding areas has reportedly not affected the southern regions of Thailand very much where most of the rubber tree plantations are located. In other news, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) announced that they expect natural rubber production by member countries to grow by an estimated 6% this year which is slightly higher than previous estimates and demand was projected to grow by a lesser amount. Volume on TOCOM was moderate last week and open interest was little changed.

 

TOCOM Rubber Daily Chart – Forward Contract (as of Oct 28)

  

TOCOM Rubber Forward Contract Weekly Trading Data

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Change	Volume	Open Interest
Oct 28	302.0	316.2	302.0	309.3	9.5	14530	23143
Oct 27	294.3	300.7	289.6	299.8	6.3	11938	23809
Oct 26	292.5	298.2	287.1	293.5	-3.6	14028	23947
Oct 25	294.5	301.5	291.1	297.1	1.9	10471	23767
Oct 24	282.8	295.5	281.3	295.2	13.5	12450	24904

 

Exchange and Industry News

 

TOCOM to Amend Give-up System

 

http://www.tocom.or.jp/news/2011/documents/20111028_Give-upSystemE.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.