Tokyo rubber futures edged down due to profit-taking on Friday after briefly hitting a fresh 17-year high on tight fundamentals and a commodities bull market that has also touched copper and crude oil.
The benchmark March 2006 rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose to as high as 192.5 yen per kg, its highest since June 1988, before slipping to 189.7 yen, down 0.6 yen from Thursday's close of 190.3 yen.
Brokers have said that supply tightness compounded by the strength in a range of commodities have lifted TOCOM rubber, and sentiment remains strong.
On Thursday, three-months London Metal Exchange copper traded at a record $3,835 a tonne on the LME Select, while US crude oil prices have stayed above $66 a barrel. US crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up 44 cents to $66.79 a barrel on Thursday.
Rubber often benefits from high crude oil prices also due to a view that expensive oil will encourage a shift to natural rubber from synthetic rubber, a petroleum product.