TOKYO—Natural rubber futures closed the week ending July 21 lower across all major Far East exchanges, according to the Japanese Stock Exchange JPX.
Driven by "stop-loss selling backed by speculative selling," the declines represented concerns over a slowing Chinese economy, JPX said in its July 24 report. It added that potential deflationary conditions in China dampened rubber demand and exerted further downward pressure on prices.
On July 17, China reported a second quarter GDP growth rate of 6.3 percent, considerably lower than market expectations of 7.1 percent.
On the Osaka exchange in Japan, OSE rubber futures (RSS3) for December delivery dropped 1.6 percent from the week prior due to "the liquidation of long positions."
Similarly, in active trading in China, NR futures pricing fell by 2.3 percent week-on-week on both the SHFE and INE exchanges.
On Singapore's SICOM exchange, NR futures recorded a nearly 3-percent drop, driven by new speculative selling activities.
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