TOKYO: Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber futures edged higher on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump said the trade deal with China was still on track, following confusing statements from the White House regarding the agreement's status.
TOCOM's rubber contract for November delivery finished 0.1 yen higher at 157.8 yen ($1.47) per kg, after falling to 156.5 yen earlier in the session.
"The TOCOM has reacted to mixed messages from the White House as it has been sensitive to the trend of equities and forex, rather than demand and supply of rubber," Jiong Gu, an analyst at Yutaka Shoji Co, said.
"It is hard to tell which direction rubber prices will be headed given lack of interests from investors lately," he said.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery finished unchanged at 10,400 yuan ($1,472) per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for July delivery last traded at 115.6 US cents per kg, up 0.1%.