TOCOM HITS 1-1/2-YEAR HIGH, BUT ENDS LOWER ON PROFIT-TAKING

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures touched a 1-1/2-year high on Friday as the yen fell to multi-month lows against the dollar, but ended lower on profit-taking though it still marked a 13 percent weekly gain.

"The recent rally has been supported by the yen's fall and expectations of higher demand in China," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities.

"But investors took profits after the sharp gain and ahead of the weekend," he added.

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for new May delivery finished at 236.9 yen ($2.09) per kg, down 1.6 yen, or 0.7 percent, from an opening price of 238.5 yen.

The contract rose to 241.7 yen earlier in the session, its highest since June 2015. For the week, it booked a 13.1 percent gain, marking the biggest such leap in two weeks and boosting an accumulated rise since the end of August to more than 50 percent.

After hitting an 8-month high of 113.90 yen in Asian trade, the dollar was down 0.3 percent on the day at 112.97 yen, still on track to gain more than 2 percent on the week. A weaker yen makes yen-denominated assets more affordable when purchased in other currencies.

"I expect to see some position adjustments next week in rubber prices as the dollar and global equities may take a breather after the lofty gains over the past few weeks," Kikukawa said.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for May delivery fell 135 yuan to finish at 18,420 yuan ($2,663.00) per tonne.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for December delivery last traded at 171.5 US cents per kg, down 4.7 cents.