Key Tokyo rubber futures fell more than 3 percent on Friday, dragged lower by a broad slide in commodities and a firmer yen, with investors shedding riskier assets on mounting signs of sluggishness in the US economy. The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for January delivery fell as much as 13.7 yen or 3.5 percent to a two-week low of 376.8 yen per kg, before settling at 379.4 yen, down 11.1 yen or 2.8 percent.
TOCOM rubber ended the week down 1.9 percent for its first weekly loss in six weeks. The most active Shanghai rubber contract for January delivery fell as much as 5.8 percent to 33,605 yuan per tonne before closing at 33,705 yuan ($5,234.508) per tonne on Friday, down 5.5 percent from Thursday. Volume rose to 679,676 lots from 503,444 lots on Thursday. "TOCOM rubber fell in tandem with other markets as concerns about a global economic slowdown deepened," said a technical analyst at a Japanese securities firm.