SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures were steady on Friday, as concerns over higher domestic inflation offset hopes of firmer natural rubber demand from top consumer China.

The Osaka Exchange rubber contract for November delivery was down 0.1 yen at 253.7 yen ($1.88) per kg as of 0142 GMT. The benchmark was set for its second straight weekly drop.

Japan’s annual core consumer inflation topped the central bank’s target for a second straight month in May, data showed on Friday, highlighting the intensifying pressure on the country’s fragile economy from soaring global raw material costs.

The dollar traded at 134.76 yen against 135.53 yen on Thursday afternoon in Asia. A firmer yen makes yen-denominated assets less affordable when purchased in other currencies.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery was up 5 yuan at 12,715 yuan ($1,899.49) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for July delivery last traded at 160.3 US cents per kg, down 0.2%.

Domestic car sales in Thailand rose 15.71% in May from a year earlier to 64,735 units, helped by an easing of COVID-19 curbs and government stimulus measures, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said on Thursday.