SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures extended losses on Tuesday, tracking softer synthetic rubber prices, while investors weighed the outcome of China’s key Politburo meeting.

The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for January delivery closed down 1.2 yen, or 0.38%, at 315.1 yen ($2.04) per kg. The September rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell 220 yuan, or 1.53%, to finish at 14,135 yuan ($1,947.05) per metric ton.

The most active September butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE fell 380 yuan, or 2.61%, to 160.1 yuan per metric ton. China will step up policy support for the economy, focusing on boosting consumption to expand domestic demand, the Politburo, the ruling Communist Party’s top decision-making body, said on Tuesday.

Currently, China faces increasing adverse effects stemming from changes in the external environment, insufficient domestic demand, and a painful transition from old growth drivers to new ones, the Politburo said following a meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping.