TOCOM ends slightly lower on profit-taking

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended slightly lower on Wednesday as investors booked profits following the previous session's 4% jump.

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for rubber prices in Southeast Asia, initially came under pressure from a roughly 2% decline in oil prices overnight.

TOCOM fell as much as 2.5% but cut losses by the close as the dollar hit a three-month high against the yen. A weaker yen makes commodities denominated in the Japanese currency cheaper for holders of other currencies.

"Despite the producers' moves to shore up prices, higher rubber stockpiles data indicates excess rubber in the market," said a Japanese trading source.

Crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports stood at 16,357 tonnes as of April 10, nearly four times the levels seen a year earlier, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed.

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for October delivery finished 0.9 yen lower at 192 yen (US$1.75) per kg after hitting a 1½-month high of 193.2 yen a day earlier.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery rose 210 yuan to finish at 11,525 yuan (US$1,811) per tonne.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for June delivery last traded at 140.60 US cents per kg, up 1.5 cents.

(US$1 = 109.8300 yen)

(US$1 = 6.3622 Chinese yuan)