Tokyo rubber futures slipped on Thursday, reversing opening gains to fall in line with a retreat in oil and other commodities. The most active Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for November delivery ended the morning session down 0.8 yen or 0.2 percent at 345.6 yen a kg. The contract moved between 344.9 yen and 349.2 yen.
The key contract is in a correction mode after an oil-led rally pushed it as high as 354.0 yen last week, the highest for any benchmark since March 1980. Technically, the November contract is seen caught in a range between 330 and 350 yen.
A manager at a Tokyo-based commodity brokerage said light bargain-hunting was supporting the Tokyo market, which remained at a discount to markets in producing countries. "Proprietary dealers are opting to buy on dips given a chance of arbitrage trading," the manager said.
US crude oil fell 0.4 percent on the Globex electric trading platform on Thursday as a Nigerian oil workers strike was averted, calming worries about supply disruption. Asian physical rubber prices, some of which are now at their highest levels in half a century, were unchanged to slightly lower as improving weather in producing countries helped ease the upward pressure on the prices.