Tokyo rubber slides on weaker Shanghai on July 29

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber futures slid on Monday, tracking losses in Shanghai futures and amid pessimism over US-Sino trade negotiations. The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for January delivery finished 2.4 yen, or 1.3%, lower at 181.0 yen ($1.67) per kg. The most active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery rose 120 yuan to finish at 10,685 yuan ($1,550) per tonne.

TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for January delivery closed unchanged at 153.3 yen per kg, remaining at the same level week-on-week. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 138.1 US cents per kg, down 1.6%. US and Chinese negotiators meet this week for the first time since trade talks broke down in May, but expectations are low after President Donald Trump said China might not want to sign a trade deal until after the 2020 US election.

Oil prices weakened on Monday amid pessimism over the US-China trade talks and the prospect of slower economic growth globally that could reduce demand for crude. Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average fell on Monday on profit-taking in otherwise subdued trading, as investors showed caution ahead of corporate earnings and this week's Bank of Japan and US Federal Reserve policy decisions.