Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures on Monday slipped from a two-week peak hit last week, while softer Shanghai futures prompted selling as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend in Japan.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for January delivery finished 4.1 yen lower, or 1.9 percent, at 210.0 yen ($1.9) per kg. Earlier in the session, it hit 208.8 yen, its lowest since Aug. 8.
All Japanese financial markets were closed last Friday due to a national holiday.
"The TOCOM followed Shanghai's decline while weaker Tokyo stock prices and rising geopolitical risks in eastern Asia also weighed on market sentiment," said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 180 yuan, or 1.1 percent, to finish at 15,920 yuan ($2,388) per tonne.
Japan's Nikkei dropped 1 percent as a stronger yen overshadowed much better-than-expected second-quarter economic growth.
Geopolitical risks were expected to remain a key theme for global markets in the near term, as North Korea celebrates Liberation Day on Tuesday to mark the end of Japanese rule.
On the further downside, China's strong economic growth showed visible signs of fading in July as lending costs rose and the gravity-defying property market cooled, though activity levels generally remained solid, propped up by a year-long construction spree.
China's overall vehicles sales, on the other hand, grew 6.2 percent in July from a year ago to 1.97 million vehicles, showing that the world's largest auto market continues to rebound from the weakness it saw in April and May, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Friday.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for September delivery last traded at 149.9 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.7 cent.
($1 = 6.6675 Chinese yuan) ($1 = 109.7600 yen)
