Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended down 1.6% on Wednesday, their first decline in five sessions, in line with weaker Shanghai futures and local equities.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, touched a more than two-week high earlier, however, supported by a more than 3% drop in Japanese crude rubber inventories.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for August delivery <0#2JRU:> finished 2.9 yen lower at 177.5 yen per kg, after touching 181.9 yen, the highest since March 7.
"The market undertone overall is to the upside because of the seasonal drop in natural rubber production and some tightness in rubber demand in China," said a source with a Tokyo-based broker.
Japan's Nikkei stock average ended down 0.3%, while the US dollar was quoted around 112.38 yen, compared with around 112.10 yen on Tuesday afternoon.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 315 yuan to finish at 11,550 yuan per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for April delivery last traded at 132.20 US cents per kg, down 1.2 US cent.
