Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures edged lower in light trade on Wednesday, as investors awaited clues for Sino-US trade talks ahead of the deadline for new US tariffs on Chinese goods.
TOCOM's rubber contract for May delivery finished 0.2 yen lower at 198.2 yen ($1.82) per kg.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery rose 20 yuan to finish at 13,275 yuan ($1,886) per tonne. China's new technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract was last up 15 yuan at 11,215 yuan per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for January delivery last traded at 147.7 US cents per kg, up 0.7%.
US President Donald Trump has only days to decide whether to impose tariffs on nearly $160 billion in Chinese goods, a move that would exacerbate the long-running trade war.
The White House's top economic and trade advisers are expected to meet in coming days with Trump over the decision, a source told Reuters, though a final decision has not been made.
The US dollar was quoted around 108.67 yen, compared with around 108.61 yen on Tuesday afternoon.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday after industry data showed an unexpected build in crude inventory in the United States and as investors waited for news on whether a fresh round of US tariffs on Chinese goods would take effect on Sunday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average ended lower on Wednesday as an approaching deadline for US tariffs on nearly $160 billion worth of Chinese consumer goods just weeks before Christmas kept investors away from risk-taking.
