Tokyo rubber futures fell to a new four-month low on Tuesday as investors turned risk averse after a political impasse in Greece fanned the chance of a further rise in the yen currency and fed concerns about faltering demand for the industrial commodity.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for October delivery settled at 270.1 yen per kg, down 9.1 yen from the previous close. It earlier touched an intraday low of 265 yen, the lowest since January 6.
"If the debt crises worsen in the eurozone and if the dollar falls clearly below 80 yen, that would put a further pressure on the Tokyo market," said Naoki Asami, chief broker at trading house Kanetsu. Some speculators who started building short positions this week seemed to bet on a further fall in the TOCOM market to 260 yen per kg and below, traders said, paving the way for a test of a November trough below 250 yen.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai rubber exchange for September delivery closed down 390 yuan at 24,685 yuan per tonne. The front-month June rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange was last traded at 332.0 US cents per kg, down 0.9 cents.