The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for July delivery finished 1.9 yen lower at 177.8 yen per kg. TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for July delivery dropped 3.7 yen to close at 148.3 yen per kg. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 150 yuan to finish at 11,330 yuan per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for February delivery last traded at 132.5 US cents per kg.
"The fall of Shanghai rubber futures was still mainly due to the fundamentals of the commodity," said Hu Haitao, researcher, Shengda futures Co. Ltd. The United States and China started a new round of talks on Wednesday aimed at bridging deep differences over China's intellectual property and technology transfer practices and easing a months-long tariff war. Negotiations will continue for a second day.