Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures fell on Thursday, tracking weak Shanghai futures, even as oil prices surged after a suspected tanker attack near Iran. The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for November delivery finished 0.3 yen ($0.0028) lower at 204.6 yen per kg. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 35 yuan ($5.06) to finish at 12,260 yuan per tonne.
TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for December delivery closed down 0.5 yen at 164.8 yen per kg. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for July delivery last traded at 154.3 US cents per kg, down 0.2%.
The US dollar was quoted around 108.32 yen, compared with around 108.49 yen on Wednesday afternoon. Oil prices surged on Thursday after a unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy said it was aware of an incident involving a tanker in the Gulf of Oman near the Iranian coast. Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average was down 0.46%.