Tokyo rubber futures mostly fell on Friday as a sell-off in Japanese shares and a firmer yen against the dollar spurred selling from those who had bought on dips earlier this week. The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for March delivery ended the morning session at 180.7 yen, down 10.5 yen or 5.5 percent from Thursday's close.
Tokyo's key Nikkei share average fell steeply as Sony Corp took a hit a day after the consumer electronics giant halved its full-year profit forecast, underlining a gloomy outlook for the global economy.
The dollar hit a 13-year low below 95.77 yen. A stronger yen deflates yen-based TOCOM futures prices. The nearby October rubber contract was 1.4 yen by midday, but the other contracts were lower by 1.0 yen to 7.4 yen. Trade remained volatile as the key March contract opened at the day's high of 196.5 yen and later fell as low as 178.3 yen.
"Physical supply is tight. But the Tokyo market is being sold as a reaction to the yen and the stock market," said Hitoshi Inagawa, senior manager at Yutaka Shoji Co in Tokyo.
Concerns that demand would shrink amid growing fears of a global recession have caused TOCOM rubber to slide almost 50 percent from early September to a trough of 159.3 yen on Friday last week, the lowest since July 2005.
In the physical rubber market, prices firmed given reduced supply due to rains in the main producing region in Thailand. "It's getting too difficult to follow the volatile Tokyo market," a trader in Singapore said. "A further fall in the physical market would push prices down below farmers' costs." US crude oil firmed to around $68 a barrel on Friday as traders expected Opec to agree to cut output at an emergency meeting later in the day.
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