Tokyo rubber flat; Shanghai up

Key TOCOM rubber futures ended almost flat on Tuesday after falling as much as 3.3 percent as rises in the Shanghai market prompted the return of investors, although uncertainty over the economic outlook capped gains. The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for April delivery settled down 0.3 yen, or 0.1 percent, at 263.8 yen per kg. The contract fell as much as 3.3 percent to 255.5 yen immediately after the open.
The most active Shanghai rubber contract for January delivery closed at 24,830 yuan per tonne, up from Monday's close of 24,600 yuan. Volume stood at 1.09 million lots. "Investors returned to the market on the view that the contracts had been oversold, but some shippers in producer countries soon took profits, capping gains," said Naoki Asami, a chief broker at trading house Kanetsu. News that a Thai rubber exporter sold 180,000 tonnes of rubber to three Chinese companies at $3.5 per kg also helped prop up the TOCOM market in the afternoon, a dealer said.