Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures dipped more than 1% on Monday, tracking weaker Shanghai futures, amid fears over intensifying Sino-US trade war. The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for October delivery finished 2.3 yen, or 1.2%, lower at 190.5 yen ($1.73) per kg, sliding further from an about 1-month high hit on Friday.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 150 yuan to finish at 12,045 yuan ($1,742) per tonne. TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for November delivery closed down 1.3% at 162.7 yen per kg.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for June delivery last traded at 149.5 US cents per kg, down 1%. Beijing has called on Washington to show "sincerity" if it is to hold meaningful trade talks, after the United States put China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's biggest telecoms equipment maker, on a trade blacklist.
"Lingering worries that an escalating US-China trade spat would slow global economy and reduce commodity demand weighed on investors' sentiment," said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities.
