Tokyo stock market plummets and weakening import demand puts pressure on Japan rubber futures

(1) Japanese rubber futures fell on Thursday, as a sharp decline in the Tokyo stock market, weakening import demand, and profit-taking after a recent rally collectively weighed on market sentiment. (2) The March rubber contract on the Osaka Exchange declined by about 1.5%, to around 446.6 yen per kilogram. (3) The January rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slid by about 2.4%, to around 19,735 yuan per ton. (4) The most active November butadiene rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped by about 1.9%, to around 15,795 yuan per ton. (5) According to a Singapore trader, rubber prices may follow shifts in overall risk appetite and see profit-taking after the recent rise. (6) The trader stated that prices are now near support levels, and given ongoing tightness in raw material supply, short positions may face a squeeze. (7) The Nikkei Index fell nearly 5% on Thursday, with tech stocks significantly impacted by reports related to US cloud computing company CoreWeave's debt troubles, and hotter US inflation data raising concerns about interest rate hikes. (8) The January rubber contract on the Singapore Exchange SICOM platform was reported at around 248.8 cents per kilogram, down by about 2.3%.