Tokyo rubber futures dropped to a two-week low on Friday on stop-loss selling following weaker Chinese economic data, but prices were still backed by tight supply that lifted TOCOM prices to finish above major support at 330 yen, dealers said. The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for August delivery fell 1.3 yen to settle at 330.6 yen ($4.01) per kg.
It briefly hit an intraday low of 327.6 yen, the lowest since March 9, posting a 0.571 percent weekly loss, compared with a 0.853 percent loss in the previous week. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery rose 175 yuan to finish at 28,285 yuan ($4,500) per tonne.
The front-month April rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM futures exchange was last traded at 374.00 US cents per kg, up 0.6 cent. "Players sold contracts to stop losses as technical sentiment on TOCOM was poor after prices briefly broke below major support at 330 yen. However, limited supply still supported," a dealer said.