Tokyo rubber futures slump for fifth day on Aug.1

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures slumped on Thursday, extending losses into a fifth straight session and hitting the lowest since mid-July, amid worries over weaker demand in top buyer China and a supply glut in Asia. The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for January delivery finished 1.7 yen, or 1.0%, lower at 175.3 yen ($1.61) per kg. It touched lowest since July 16 of 174.3 yen earlier in the session.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 105 yuan to finish at 10,565 yuan ($1,531) per tonne. TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for new January delivery closed at 148.2 yen per kg, unchanged from an opening price.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 132.4 US cents per kg, down 2.8%. It marked the lowest since Feb. 12. The US dollar was quoted around 109.02 yen, compared with around 108.55 yen on Wednesday afternoon.

Oil dropped below $65 a barrel on Thursday, declining for the first time in six days, after the US Federal Reserve dampened hopes for a string of interest rate cuts and as rising US output helped keep the market well supplied.