Tokyo rubber futures closed mixed on Wednesday as technical buying ran out of steam in the absence of fresh bullish incentives. The benchmark May 2005 contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) settled down 2.4 yen per kg at 122.0 yen, the day's trough, while the session high was 124.6 yen. Other months either rose by 0.1 yen or fell by 0.7 to 1.6 yen.
A Tokyo-based broker said buying by China has been the major force behind TOCOM rubber's upturned, but that there was now a build in stocks in China. "China is still buying once in a while, but not as much as once anticipated," he said.
China, the world's largest rubber consumer, has been hungry for all types of commodities to feed its booming economy.
Beijing raised interest rates at the end of October for the first time in nearly a decade in a surprise move aimed at cooling down its heated economy.
Interest rates could be raised again and that is also weighing on the market, the broker said.
In the currency market, the dollar fell against the yen on a round of selling by Japanese exporters.
The dollar was at 102.71/74 yen compared with 103.08 in late US trade.
The volume of TOCOM rubber traded on Wednesday was an estimated 6,112 lots, down a touch from Tuesday's 7,530 lots.
Open interest stood at 35,683 lots as of the end of Tuesday, up slightly from Monday's 34,651 lots.
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