RUBBER-Tokyo futures inch down on weak Japan GDP

Key TOCOM rubber futures inched down on Monday on the back of weak Japanese GDP data and on concerns over U.S. fiscal woes that threaten to push the world's largest economy into recession.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for April delivery <0#2JRU:> eased 0.4 yen, or 0.2 percent, lower at 246.0 yen as of 0036 GMT on Monday. The benchmark contract on Friday rose 1.4 percent after lower-than-expected inflation in China raised hopes for an easing monetary of policy that could push rubber prices higher.

* Japan's economy shrank 0.9 percent in the three months to September, marking the first contraction in three quarters, adding to signs that slowing global growth and tensions with China are nudging the world's third-largest economy into recession.

* For the top stories in the rubber market and other news, click, or

* Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 2.3 percent from last Friday, the exchange said on Friday.

MARKET NEWS

* U.S. stocks advanced on Friday but failed to make up for what turned out to be the worst week for markets since June, as investors turned their attention from the presidential election to the coming negotiations over the "fiscal cliff."

* The euro held above a two-month low in early Asian trading on Monday after Greece's ruling coalition secured enough votes in parliament on Sunday to approve the 2013 budget law, but its gains were seen limited ahead of a meeting by euro zone finance ministers later in the session.

* Brent crude futures edged down on Monday, paring a $2.15 jump on Friday.

* The Nikkei average slipped to a four-week low in early trade on Monday on the back of weak Japanese GDP data and on concerns over U.S. fiscal woes that threaten to push the world's largest economy into recession.