SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures inched lower on Tuesday, tracking losses in the Shanghai market and pressured by a stronger yen.

The Osaka Exchange rubber contract for July delivery was down 0.7 yen, or 0.3%, at 226.6 yen ($1.71) per kg, as of 0202 GMT. The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery was down 50 yuan, or 0.4%, at 12,635 yuan ($1,865) per tonne. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei share average opened up 0.19%.

Japanese real wages rose for the first time in nine months thanks to robust temporary bonuses, but uncertainty remains on whether pay hikes will continue to sustain Japan’s economic recovery. The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 132.37 per dollar, but remained pinned near Monday’s one-month low of 132.90. A stronger Japanese currency makes yen-denominated assets less affordable when purchased in other currencies.

Rubber markets are waiting for signs of a demand pick-up in top buyer China following the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, and after the country lifted its strict COVID-19 curbs at the end of 2022.

Asian share markets stabilised somewhat after steep losses in the past 24 hours, while the U.S dollar remained elevated as investors considered the prospects interest rates would remain higher for longer in many developed economies. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for March delivery last traded at 139.2 US cents per kg, down 1.0%.