SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures edged lower on Thursday, tracking losses in the Shanghai market as worries over rising Covid-19 cases in top buyer China and weak domestic manufacturing activity dented demand sentiment.

The Osaka Exchange rubber contract for April delivery was down 1.8 yen, or 0.8%, at 213.4 yen ($1.54) per kg as of 0200 GMT. The OSE was closed on Wednesday for a public holiday in Japan. The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery was down 25 yuan, or 0.2%, at 12,760 yuan ($1,787) per tonne.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei share average opened up 0.92%. Chinese cities imposed more curbs on Wednesday to rein in rising corona virus cases, adding to investor worries about the economy, as fresh unrest at the world’s largest iPhone plant highlighted the social and industrial toll of China’s strict Covid-19 measures.

Mainland China’s Health Commission reported 31,656 new corona virus cases for Nov. 23, compared with 29,157 new cases a day earlier. Japan’s manufacturing activity contracted at the fastest pace in two years in November as demand worsened due to strong inflationary pressures, a business survey showed on Thursday.

A “substantial majority” of policymakers at the Federal Reserve’s meeting early this month agreed it would “likely soon be appropriate” to slow the pace of interest rate hikes as debate broadened over the implications of the US central bank’s rapid tightening of monetary policy, according to the minutes from the session.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for December delivery last traded at 127.3 US cents per kg, up 0.2%.