RUBBER-Tokyo futures hit two-week low on firmer yen
TOKYO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Key TOCOM rubber futures fell to a two-week low on Tuesday as a stronger yen dampened market sentiment.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for February delivery was changing hands 2.4 yen lower at 269.6 yen as of 0057 GMT. The benchmark contract fell as low as 269.0 yen, the lowest since Sept. 2.
* Tokyo markets were closed on Monday for a national holiday.
* The U.S. dollar was quoted around 99.12 yen in Asia by 0102 GMT, down from 99.72 yen late Friday. A stronger yen makes dollar-based rubber cheaper and normally encourages players to sell rubber contracts to cut losses.
* Around 500 protesters armed with slingshots clashed with riot police firing tear gas on Monday after blocking a highway in southern Thailand in a bid to force the government to increase a subsidy for rubber farmers.
* Most farmers groups have agreed in principle to the government's offer of a 21.2 billion baht ($665 million) subsidy, which works out at around 10 baht per kg.
* Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.5 percent from last Friday, the exchange said on Friday.
* For the top stories in the rubber market and other news, click, or
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks advanced on Monday after former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers withdrew as a candidate for Federal Reserve chairman, lifting some market uncertainty about what was heading towards a contentious confirmation process.
* Global oil prices fell on Monday after U.S. and Russian officials reached a weekend deal to strip Syria of chemical weapons, easing investor worries.
* Japan's Nikkei share average inched up 0.1 percent in choppy trade on Friday as many investors awaited next week's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
DATA EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Tuesday: (Time in GMT)
- 0200 China FDI
- 0900 Germany ZEW economic sentiment
- 0900 Euro zone Eurostat trade
- 1145 U.S. ICSC weekly chain store sales
- 1230 U.S. Consumer inflation
- 1400 U.S. NAHB housing market index
- 2030 U.S. API weekly crude stocks
- Federal Open Market Committee begins two-day meeting (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Richard Pullin)
