TOCOM drops for fourth session on Shanghai slide

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures extended losses into a fourth session on Wednesday, diving to a one-month low as a continued slide in Shanghai futures prompted fresh selling.

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for February delivery finished 1.2 yen, or 0.6 percent, lower at 212.2 yen ($1.9) per kg, after having earlier touched 209.5 yen, its lowest level since Aug. 15.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for January delivery fell 100 yuan to finish at 15,085 yuan ($2,295) per tonne, pairing some of its earlier losses. It hit a low of 14,775 yuan during the session.

"Shanghai futures have come under pressure since early this month when speculators had started adjusting their positions after a 1-month-long rally and ahead of the Sept. 15 expiration of the September contract," Jiong Gu, an analyst atYutaka Shoji Co said.

"But technically, it's been oversold and we expect the market to bottom out soon," he said, adding that TOCOM would recover if Shanghai begins to pick up.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for October delivery last traded at 154 U.S. cents per kg, up 2.6 cents. ($1 = 111.2600 yen) ($1 = 6.5736 Chinese yuan)