Rubber moves little in Tokyo

Tokyo rubber futures barely moved on Thursday as the market looked for fresh direction.
The benchmark July 2004 rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange settled down 0.2 yen per kg at 140.8 yen.
Other months, however, ended up by 0.3 to 0.5 yen, with the exception of the April contract, which finished flat.
"Some losses were pared in the end (but) the market generally lacked direction," a Tokyo broker said. The dollar was fetching 105.45/5.50 yen at 0630 GMT, against 105.37/5.42 yen at about the same time on Wednesday.
Turnover in TOCOM rubber was estimated at 8,212 lots, compared with 13,093 lots on Wednesday and 8,915 lots on Tuesday.
Open interest stood at 56,970 lots as of the end of Wednesday, versus 58,771 lots on Tuesday, and 59,894 lots on Monday.