TOKYO: Japanese rubber futures snapped a three-day winning streak on Wednesday, weighed down by profit-taking as some investors moved to reduce risk following renewed US-Iran hostilities.
The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for December delivery was down 2.7 yen, or 0.64 percent, at 418.7 yen (USD2.58) per kg.
The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery rose 45 yuan, or 0.27 percent, to 16,980 yuan (USD2,497.79) per metric ton. The most-active September butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE gained 225 yuan, or 1.84 percent, to 12,430 yuan per ton.
The pullback in Japanese rubber prices likely reflected profit-taking, as some investors trimmed risk due to renewed uncertainty stemming from the US-Iran situation, said a Singapore-based trader. The market remained broadly rangebound and was supported by fundamentals, and any further downside is unlikely to be significant unless the broader outlook shifts materially, he said.
Losses were limited by a jump in oil prices.
Oil prices gained more than 3 percent after Iran and the US military traded airstrikes and Washington reimposed crude sales sanctions on Tehran, raising fears their fragile truce was unravelling and Middle East supplies could be disrupted again.