Tokyo rubber futures tumble

Tokyo rubber futures followed swings in Asian share markets on Friday, tumbling 4 percent to a 9-month low in early trade before partly recovering losses, supported by firm oil prices, dealers said. The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for November delivery fell nearly 10 yen to an intra-day low of 228.0 yen, its lowest since September last year.
The contract settled down 1.7 yen at 236.3 yen ($2.41) per kg. "Nothing to do with fundamentals today. TOCOM just moved up and down in the same direction as share prices," said a Bangkok-based dealer. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery ended down 385 yuan at 17,500 yuan ($2,900) per tonne. The front-month July rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange was last traded at 228.0 US cents per kg, down 2.3 cents.