Crude oil futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) fell on Friday on a stronger yen against the dollar, while losses in gasoline and kerosene prices were limited by tight domestic supplies, traders said.
October crude fell 490 yen, or 1.01 percent, to settle at 47,860 yen per kilolitre (yen/kl). "It is the yen that weighed down TOCOM crude oil," a broker said. "But product futures did not fall as much as crude did because physical supplies are tight."
A stronger yen against the dollar makes yen-denominated crude futures cheaper in the dollar-billed export market, which normally leads to lower prices for TOCOM crude. November gasoline settled down by a smaller 280 yen, 0.42 percent, at 67,100 yen/kl. Its crack to October crude widened by 210 yen to 19,240 yen from Thursday.
Frontmonth gasoline was down just 40 yen. The July contract rose 230 yen as the auto fuel demand typically peaks in the month.
Gasoline stocks fell to just above 2 million kl last week, industry data showed on Wednesday.