TOKYO: Tokyo rubber futures ended 2.2 percent lower on Tuesday, falling back from the previous day's almost 3-percent rally as optimism over the euro zone's weekend deal to help Spanish banks waned and investors grew cautious about rubber demand.
Investors are wary that the weekend deal could aggravate Spain's rising public debt, even as attention turns to problems in Italy and a June 17 election in Greece that could determine the fate of the common currency bloc.
The most-active Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for November delivery closed down 5.5 yen at 239 yen per kg after falling as low as 235.5 yen.
The November contract earlier this week touched a new 2-1/2 month low of 232.2 yen.
"The market looks to be in range-bound trade for now as people see no immediate reason to test either this year's low of 232.2 yen or last week's resistance of 250 yen," said Naoki Asami, chief broker at trading house Kanetsu.
"The Europe factor will keep driving other markets up or down and the rubber market will likely reflect these ups and downs within that range," he said.
There is some concern about delays in rubber shipments in Thailand, the world's biggest producer, because of recent heavy rain. But market participants are more interested in the outlook for global demand, traders have said.
In Shanghai, the most active rubber contract for September delivery closed down 465 yuan at 22,300 yuan per tonne.
The front-month July rubber contract on the SICOM in Singapore was last traded at 282 US cents per kg, down 2.9 cents.
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