* Japanese rubber futures edged lower on Monday, hit by a
strengthening yen and falling oil prices.
* The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for August
delivery was down 3.8 yen, or 1.7%, at 226 yen ($1.94)
per kg as of 0207 GMT.
* The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange
(SHFE) for
May delivery was down 165 yuan, or 1.3%, at 12,440 yuan
($1,799.23) per tonne.
* Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai
Futures Exchange inched 0.4% higher from a week earlier, the
exchange said on Friday.
* Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average opened up
0.91%.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.04% to 135.83
per
dollar.
* A stronger yen makes yen-denominated assets less
affordable when
purchased in other currencies.
* Oil prices opened lower, after China set a modest target
for
economic growth this year of around 5%, lower than market
expectations of 5.5% growth in the world's second-largest oil
consumer.
* Lower oil prices incentivise manufacturers to shift to
synthetic
rubber derived from oil, hindering the natural rubber market.
* Still, Asian shares edged up, while bond markets held
their
breath ahead of an update on the U.S. rate outlook from the
world's most powerful central banker.
* There was some disappointment that Beijing chose to
lowball its
growth outlook with a target of 5%, rather than the 5.5%-plus
favoured by the market, but the recent run of actual data has
been strong enough to keep investors optimistic.
* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's
SICOM
platform for April delivery last traded at 139.10 U.S.
cents per kg, down 1.6%.
($1 = 135.8300 yen)
($1 = 6.91378 yuan)
(Reporting by Carman Chew; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
(Corrects conversion rate in the second bullet point to $1.94,
not 1.66)
SINGAPORE, March 6 (Reuters) -
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