RUBBER-Tokyo futures dip to 3-week low on economic concerns

 Key TOCOM rubber futures fell 2.5 percent to a three-week low early on Monday as festering concerns about the health of the global economy dented sentiment, pushing shares and commodity prices lower.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for March delivery was down 5 yen, or 2 percent, at 250.4 yen per kg as of 0045 GMT. The benchmark contract earlier fell 2.5 percent to 249.1 yen, the lowest since Sept.27.

* Lacklustre earnings from leading U.S. companies, weak demand in China and a bigger-than-expected fall in exports from Japan, a key driver of the world's third-biggest economy, hurt risk sentiment.

* A Reuters poll on Monday showed sentiment among Japanese manufacturers has tumbled at the sharpest pace since last year's earthquake to its lowest level since 2010.

* Japan's exports dropped 10.3 percent in September from a year earlier, data showed on Monday, with exports to China, the top destination for Japanese shipments, slumping 14.1 percent in the year to September.

* While global growth worries have raised concerns about weak demand from China, a Reuters poll showed that the world's second-largest economy could stage a tepid economic rebound in the fourth quarter on higher public infrastructure spending, but growth will remain lethargic through 2013.