Tokyo rubber futures were mostly lower on Thursday as a rally in the yen versus the dollar hurt sentiment, though oil prices provided support, hovering near a six-month high. The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for October delivery fell 2.2 percent to 161.2 yen per kg at 0045 GMT. On Wednesday, it settled at 164.9 yen.
An exception was the spot May contract, up 0.2 yen at 153.2 yen. It expires on May 25. US crude futures fell below $62 a barrel on Thursday, giving back some gains from the previous day, when oil rallied to a six-month high after the US government reported a deep drop in crude and gasoline stockpiles. The dollar fell to a two-month low below 94.50 yen on Thursday, extending a slide made the previous day when optimism about the US economy reduced safe-haven demand for the greenback.