Tokyo rubber futures end year 17 percent lower on worries over Chinese growth

Tokyo rubber futures finished 2018 with a loss of more than 17 percent, falling for a second straight year as concerns over slowing economic growth in China dragged down the market. The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract has lost 17.7 percent to 170.2 yen ($1.54) per kilogram (kg) this year. On Friday, the market dropped 1.2 percent with additional pressure from a higher yen against the dollar.
Earnings at China's industrial firms in November dropped for the first time in nearly three years, data showed on Thursday, in a sign of rising risks to the world's second-largest economy. TOCOM will be closed between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3 for New Year holidays, resuming trade on Jan. 4.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average was steady on Friday after Wall Street ended volatile trade in the green the previous day. The result added to the massive gains of the previous session although lingering investor jitters helped support safe-haven currencies such as the yen. US oil prices rose on Friday to claw back some of the ground they lost in the previous session, but growth in US crude stockpiles and ongoing concerns about the global economy kept markets under pressure.
The key Shanghai rubber market has lost 20 percent this year, also suffering its second year of decline. It closed up 0.9 percent at 11,305 yuan ($1,649.33) per tonne on Friday. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for January delivery was up 1.6 percent at 126.5 US cents per kg.