Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures for new March delivery closed lower from their opening price on Tuesday as a fresh round of US-China tariffs and a surge in oil prices to near four-year highs added to worries about risks to global growth. "There are concerns about the US-China tariff war having a negative impact to Japanese automobile and tyre manufacturers," said a Japanese trading house.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for new March delivery opened at 170.8 yen ($1.51) before finishing 0.9 yen lower at 169.9 yen per kg. It earlier touched a three-week high of 11.2 yen. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery rose 30 yuan to finish at 12,535 yuan ($1,826) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for October delivery last traded at 132.9 US cents per kg, down 0.4 cent.