Key TOCOM rubber futures fell on Friday on profit taking after prices rallied to a two-month high a day earlier, while investors waited for China data to gauge demand from the world's biggest rubber consumer.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May delivery was changing hands 1.1 yen lower at 270.4 yen as of 0015 GMT.
* The benchmark contract hit a high of 274.8 yen on Thursday, the highest since Oct. 5.
* Rubber has strengthened over the past month due partly to a weaker yen, which makes yen-denominated assets more affordable when purchased in other currencies.
* HSBC's early reading of China's December manufacturing activity due at 0145 GMT will be closely watched for clues on the health of the world's second biggest economy.
* China's stock markets are expected to make a comeback in 2013 and could post their first annual gain in three years, according to a Reuters poll, as recovery in the world's second-largest economy gathers momentum.
* A state think tank has forecast China's GDP growth next year at around 8 percent and projects the consumer price index to rise around 3 percent, the official China Securities Journalreported on Friday.
* Japan's Nikkei stock average will probably see double-digit gains next year as easy monetary policy weakens the yen and a resolution of U.S. fiscal problems lifts sentiment, a Reuters poll found.
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MARKET NEWS
* Japan's Nikkei share average edged down on Friday as investors adjusted their positions before Sunday's election amid chart signals that the market is 'overbought' after jumping to an eight-month high.
* The yen remained in the doldrums on Friday as investors continued to give it a wide berth on expectations the Bank of Japan would print more money next week to stimulate the world's third biggest economy.
* Oil prices fell on Thursday as worries about the economic impact of a U.S. fiscal crisis overshadowed improvements in U.S. jobs data and retail sales.
