TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended down 0.3 percent on Tuesday after hitting a one-week high earlier in the session as doubts that crude producers would agree next month to an output freeze continued to drag on oil prices. Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, touched a low of 153.2 yen, but regained some ground after the dollar held firm by afternoon. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for February delivery JRUc6 0#2JRU: finished 0.5 yen lower at 154 yen ($1.50) per kg after touching a one week-high of 154.9 yen earlier. “The cap in oil price gains weighed on rubber prices, but a recovery in the dollar against the yen helped offset the losses,” said a Tokyo-based source with a broker.
The U.S. dollar was quoted around 102.36 yen JPY= , compared with around 102.34 yen on Monday afternoon. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for January delivery SNRcv1 fell 45 yuan to finish at 12,260 yuan ($1,835.60) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for September delivery STFc1 last traded at 125.50 U.S. cents per kg, down 1.1 cent. ($1 = 6.6790 Chinese yuan)($1 = 102.3600 yen)
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Sunil Nair)
