Tokyo rubber futures were little changed on Wednesday after rallying to a five-week high the previous day. A halt in gains in precious metals and other commodity markets sapped investor appetite for rubber futures although a fall in the yen against the dollar made yen-based rubber prices relatively attractive to local investors.
The benchmark rubber contract for July delivery on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange reversed gains and eased to 303.4 yen a kg, down 0.3 yen from the previous close. The contract rose to 305.8 yen, though still well below on Tuesday's peak of 310.8 yen, which was the highest for any benchmark since January 4.
Rubber got some support from firmer oil prices after Venezuela announced late on Tuesday that it was stopping sales of crude oil to top US Oil Company Exxon Mobil Corp Front-month US crude futures for March delivery rose 17 cents or 0.2 percent to $92.95 a barrel on the Globex electronic trading platform.
The contract reached a one-month high of $94.72 this week. Rubber prices often benefit from high crude oil prices because investors believe expensive oil will encourage a shift to natural rubber from synthetic rubber, a petroleum product.