TOKYO: Japanese rubber futures fell on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve said it will start turning off the spigot of easy money that has flowed to help cushion the economic blow of the pandemic and kept markets buoyant.

Osaka Exchange’s rubber contract for April delivery finished 5.9 yen or 2.6% lower at 220.6 yen per kg.

The Fed announced it will trim its massive bond-buying program beginning this month, meaning less easy money available that investors have funnelled into everything from virtual currencies to commodities.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 4.3% to finish at 13,875 yuan per tonne.