TOKYO (July 21): Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended down 0.8% on Friday as weak Shanghai futures prompted market participants to book profits from a two-day rally to near two-month highs, brokers said.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, gained 6.5% in the previous two sessions.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for December delivery finished 1.7 yen lower at 214.5 yen (US$1.92) per kg. It had hit a near two-month high of 218 yen on Thursday.
For the week, the contract gained 6.4%.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 125 yuan to finish at 13,970 yuan (US$2,065) per tonne.
Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.5% from last Friday, the exchange said on Friday.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 156 US cents per kg, down 1.3 US cents.
(US$1 = 6.7651 Chinese yuan)
(US$1 = 111.7800 yen)
