Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for rubber prices in Southeast Asia, fell on Friday, marking their first weekly decline in four weeks. The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for August delivery finished 1.9 yen, or 1 percent, lower at 197 yen per kg. That brought its decline for the week to 3.4 percent, the biggest weekly drop since early September.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 180 yuan to 12,100 yuan per tonne. TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for September delivery closed up 0.1 percent at 167.4 yen per kg.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for April delivery recently traded at 144.1 US cents per kg, down 1.3 percent. The US dollar was quoted around 111.04 yen, compared with around 111.58 yen on Thursday
Oil prices were lower, with US crude down 0.7 percent and Brent off 0.8 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average ended the day down 2 percent.
