SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures dipped on Monday, weighed down by a firmer yen, although tight inventories at Shanghai Futures Exchange-monitored warehouses limited the losses.

The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for October delivery was down 1.4 yen, or 0.66%, at 211.3 yen ($1.56) per kg, as of 0213 GMT, paring gains from the previous session.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange (SHFE) for September delivery was up 5 yuan, or 0.04%, at 12,175 yuan ($1,761.40) per tonne.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average opened down 0.24%, coming down from a near 33-year-high reached last week. Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.5% from a week earlier, the exchange said on Friday. The Japanese yen appreciated 0.27% against the dollar to 137.59, making yen-dominated assets less affordable when purchased in other currencies. Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank is unwavering in its stance of patiently maintaining ultra-loose monetary policy, reassuring markets Japan will be a dovish outlier as its global peers combat stubbornly high inflation.

Asian stocks and Wall Street futures slipped as US debt ceiling negotiations approached crunch time after stalling last week, while lingering banking fears and fresh geopolitical worries capped sentiment.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for June delivery last traded at 136.0 US cents per kg, down 0.1%.