Bloomberg reports, "Rubber in Tokyo and Shanghai sank as concern grew that property prices in China will retreat, weakening raw-material demand from the largest consumer.

Futures for July delivery on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange lost 4.3 percent to 217.2 yen a kilogram ($2,123 a metric ton). It was the biggest daily drop at close for a most-active contract since February 6. Rubber for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange plunged by the daily price limit to 14,805 yuan ($2,429) a ton. That’s the lowest close for Shanghai futures since May 2009. New-home price growth in China’s first-tier cities slowed in January after local governments implemented property measures to rein in escalating values and banks tightened lending. Home prices in the southern business hubs of Guangzhou and Shenzhen rose at the slowest pace since July. “Chinese investors rushed to sell riskier assets from stocks to copper and rubber as concerns grew property bubbles in China may burst,” said Gu Jiong, an analyst at Yutaka Shoji Co., a commodity broker in Tokyo. China’s stocks fell yesterday, sending the benchmark index to its biggest loss in seven weeks, amid speculation that reduced lending to the property industry will curb growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The Shanghai Securities News reported Industrial Bank Co. and other banks have curbed lending to the property sector and some related industries such as steel and cement."