Tokyo futures plunge 12pc on flight from risk

The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for February delivery dived 39.5 yen to settle at 303 yen per kg, the lowest level since September 2010. Some saw the next support line at 300 yen.

The most active Shanghai rubber contract for January delivery fell by its daily limit and closed at 27,465 yuan per tonne, down 4.5 percent from Friday's close. Volume stood at 1,009,508 lots.

"We see the next support line at 300 yen. The market will turn ugly if the benchmark breaks through that mark," said Naoki Asami, chief broker at trading company Kanetsu.

"We won't see a swift recovery of the market unless global financial markets stabilise."

Brent crude fell below $102 to a near 7-week low on Monday, as fears of an impending global recession led investors to dump riskier commodities in favour of safe-haven assets.

Reports that European leaders were seeking new ways to solve the region's debt woes lifted commodities in early trade, but the market reversed sharply on concerns that policy-makers were doing too little to stem a crisis that helped wipe as much as 9 percent off oil prices last week.

The euro fell to a fresh 10-year low versus the yen while the Australian dollar slipped to a 10-month low against the US dollar, as doubts over a rescue plan to support the euro zone pushed investors away from riskier currencies.

Japan's Nikkei share average slid to its lowest close since April 2009 as it caught up with Wall Street losses after a three-day weekend.

Daimler AG said on Monday it had received final approval from Chinese regulators for a truck joint venture.

Copyright Reuters, 2011