TOKYO: Japanese rubber futures slid on Thursday for a third straight session on heightened recession fears, though a recovery in Shanghai futures and Chinese measures to spur car sales capped losses.

The Osaka Exchange rubber contract for December delivery finished down 1.8 yen, or 0.7%, at 247.8 yen ($1.8) per kg after hovering near its lowest in about five weeks the previous day.

The Shanghai futures exchange rubber contract for September delivery was up 55 yuan to finish at 12,670 yuan ($1,891) a tonne, reversing the previous day’s plunge.

China on Thursday announced new measures to boost car demand, saying it would consider extending a tax break for electric vehicles, build more charging stations and encourage lower charging fees.

On Thursday millions in Shanghai queued up for a third day of mass COVID-19 testing as authorities in several Chinese cities scrambled to stamp out new outbreaks.

The front-month rubber contract for August delivery on the Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform last traded at 159.7 US cents per kg, down 0.3%.

The Japanese yen is likely to remain weaker than 130 to the dollar over the next six months as a gap between Japanese and US benchmark yields weighs on the currency, a Reuters poll showed.