TOCOM sheds early gains on stronger yen, weak Shanghai

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended down on Monday after hitting a three-month high earlier in the session, as they came under pressure from a stronger yen and weak Shanghai futures, brokers said.

The U.S. dollar was quoted around 109.13 yen, compared with around 109.64 yen on Friday afternoon. A stronger yen makes Japanese currency-denominated assets more expensive when purchased in other currencies.

Shanghai futures have also been hurt by yuan's rise against the dollar to the strongest in over a year.

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for new February delivery ended at 219.0 yen ($2.01) per kg, down from the initial price of 219.5 yen. Earlier in the session, the contract hit 220.8 yen, its highest since May 26.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 35 yuan to finish at 16,645 yuan ($2,507) per tonne.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for September delivery last traded at 154.50 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.9 cent.

Crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports stood at 6,919 tonnes as of Aug. 10, down 9.2 percent from the last inventory date, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed on Monday.

($1 = 109.1100 yen)

($1 = 6.6401 Chinese yuan)