SINGAPORE, June 18 (Reuters) -

• Japanese rubber futures dropped on Tuesday as the contract tracked weaker physical rubber prices in top producer Thailand, although strong crude oil prices limited losses.

• The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for November delivery JRUc6, 0#2JRU: was down 0.5 yen, or 0.15%, at 327 yen ($2.08) per kg, as of 0155 GMT.

• The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery SNRv1 was down 60 yuan, or 0.4%, at 14,955 yuan ($2,061.31) per metric ton.

• The price of Thailand's benchmark export-grade smoked rubber sheet (RSS3) RUB-RSS3C-BKK and block rubber RUB-STR20C-BKK were down 1.7% and 2.2%, to stand at 86 baht ($2.34) and 70.21 baht ($1.91), respectively, on Monday.

• Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, on a stronger demand outlook and investor confidence that OPEC+ producers could pause or reverse plans to raise supplies from the fourth quarter of this year. O/R

• Natural rubber often takes direction from oil prices as it competes for market share with synthetic rubber, which is made from crude oil.

• Japan's benchmark Nikkei average .N225 opened 0.8% higher. .T

• The yen JPY= was flat at 157.59 against the dollar. FRX/

• Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Tuesday there was a chance the central bank could raise interest rates next month, depending on the economic data available at the time.

• Top rubber consumer China's onshore yuan CNY=CFXS languished near a seven-month trough, weighed in part by mixed economic data on Monday that pointed to further support needed from Beijing to shore up the country's economy. MKTS/GLOB

• The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for July delivery STFc1 traded at 169.9 U.S. cents per kg, down 1.4%.

($1 = 157.5300 yen)

($1 = 7.2551 yuan)

($1 = 36.8100 baht)

Reporting by Cassandra Yap; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

For morning and afternoon prices at Thailand's state-run central rubber market, click on RUB-BKK3.
For other physical rubber prices in Thailand, click on RUB-BKK1, RUB-BKK2.
For more details on Indonesian and Malaysian prices click on RURKJK and RUQG.
* Reuters Terminal users can see cash and futures rubber prices by double clicking on the codes in the brackets:

- Tokyo rubber futures -- 0#JRU:
- Shanghai rubber futures -- 0#SNR:
- Singapore rubber futures -- 0#SRS:0#SRU:0#STF:
- Thai rubber futures -- 0#ARU:0#ASR20:
- All rubber news RUB
- Tokyo rubber report RUB/T
- Shanghai rubber report RUB-CN
- Thailand rubber report RUB/TH
- Asian rubber report RUB/AS

For Related News and other topics, double click on one of these codes: SPEED GUIDES RUBBER1, SOFTS/NEWS1