* Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber futures ended flat on Monday as worries over slumping tyre demand from automakers countered optimism fuelled by phased reopening of coronavirus-induced lockdowns globally.
* TOCOM’s rubber contract for October delivery finished 0.1 yen higher at 152.8 yen ($1.43) per kg.
* Australia, France and Spain are slowly opening their economies, while the United Kingdom - which has the second-highest virus death toll in the world - introduced some limited easing of restrictions.
* China’s monthly auto sales rose for the first time in almost two years as the country eased virus-related curbs and reopened for business, but the annual number will likely be slashed by up to 25% if the pandemic continues, an industry body cautioned.
* Auto production in Mexico and Brazil, Latin America’s top producers, plunged by an unprecedented 99% in April as a result of the coronavirus crisis, with the two countries building a total of just 5,569 vehicles.
* The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 25 yuan to finish at 10,335 yuan ($1,459) per tonne.
* The U.S. dollar was quoted around 107.21 yen, compared with 106.41 yen in late Asia trade on Friday.
* Oil prices fell on Monday as concerns over a persistent glut and economic gloom caused by the coronavirus pandemic combined to cancel out support from supply cuts at some of the world’s top producers.
* Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average closed at a two-month high on Monday as more countries started to ease lockdowns that were enforced to curb the pandemic.
* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for June delivery last traded at 108.8 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.7%.
* Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.1% from last release on April 30, the exchange said on Friday.
Source Reuters