Tokyo rubber futures tumbled nearly 5 percent to a one-week low on Friday, as the surging Japanese yen and falling oil prices spurred stop-loss selling, dealers said. The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for May delivery fell 11.9 yen, or 4.7 percent, to settle at 241.2 yen ($2.79) per kg. It fell as low as 240.3 yen per kg, the lowest since November 19.
"Players liquidated contracts in a bid to stop losses as the yen surged and oil prices kept falling," one dealer said. The yen hit its highest level in 14 years on the dollar on Friday and jumped against higher-yielding currencies as investors cut risky trades due to concerns about debt problems in Dubai, while Japan signalled growing discomfort with the surge. At 0807 GMT, the yen as at 86.35 per dollar.
A firmer Japanese yen makes dollar-based rubber futures cheaper and usually encourages players to unwind rubber contracts to stop losses. Dealers said falling oil prices were also a factor that weighed rubber futures down. US crude January futures fell below $73 a barrel as investors shifted to safe-haven assets.
Rising Japanese rubber stocks also weighed on TOCOM prices, dealers said. Japan's crude rubber inventories totalled 4,721 tonnes as of November 20, up 21 percent from a record low of 3,902 tonnes 10 days earlier, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed on Friday.