The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 95 yuan to finish at 11,615 yuan ($1,712) per tonne. TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for July delivery ended steady at 153.6 yen per kg.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for February delivery last traded at 133.0 US cents per kg, down 1.2 percent. "There were no fundamental news to boost the market, but some views that Chinese speculators' purchases would keep the prices of the January and February contracts at high levels caused a recovery in the benchmark contract," said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at commodities broker Fujitomi Co.
In the latest sign of weaker economy, Japan's exports in December fell the most in more than two years, dragged by plummeting shipments to China and regional markets as weak global demand and Sino-US trade frictions take their toll on the trade-reliant economy.
US home sales tumbled to their lowest level in three years in December and house price increases slowed sharply, suggesting a further loss of momentum in the housing market.