RUBBER-Tokyo futures down 2 pct on softer oil

TOKYO, June 29 (Reuters) - Tokyo rubber futures fell around 2 percent on Monday as softer oil prices erased earlier gains that lifted the key contract to near 160 yen.

* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for December delivery <0#JRU:> was at 156.4 yen per kg at 0543 GMT, down 3.2 yen or 2 percent from Friday, after moving between 156.1 yen and 159.8 yen.

* Key rubber futures fell to a three-month low near 150 yen last week after briefly topping 176 yen earlier in the month.

* Traders said that while a recovery in weather conditions, after unseasonal rain disruptions, put supply on track, the market lacked momentum to test its upside as industrial demand remained slack amid a lack of signs of a strong economic pickup.

* "Even when auto production starts to show some signs of recovery, supply is unlikely to get tight anytime soon given that rubber stocks are generally still abundant," said a manager at a Japanese securities firm.

* U.S. crude oil CLc1 slipped below $69 a barrel on Monday, after falling over a dollar in the previous session, ahead of the release of several key economic indicators which could provide direction. [O/R]

* The dollar was up 0.2 percent against the yen. [USD/]

* Traders said they expected Chinese buyers to buy more rubber in the second half of the year to replenish stocks, after Thai Hua Rubber PCL, one of Thailand's top rubber exporters, said on Friday it had sold 100,000 tonnes of the commodity to China United Rubber (Group) Corporation. [ID:nBKK502850]

* Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.1 percent in the week ended Thursday, the exchange said on Friday. [ID:nBJD000916] (Reporting by Chikako Mogi and Miho Yoshikawa)