SINGAPORE, July 16 (Reuters) -

• Japanese rubber futures fell for the third straight session on Tuesday, pressured by soft economic data from top consumer China, and weaker oil prices.

• The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for December delivery JRUc6, 0#2JRU: was down 6.7 yen, or 2.06%, at 318.2 yen ($2.01) per kg as of 0155 GMT.

• The September rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) SNRv1 fell 75 yuan, or 0.52%, to 14,375 yuan ($1,978.64) per metric ton.

• China's economy grew much slower than expected in the second quarter as a protracted property downturn and job insecurity knocked the wind out of a fragile recovery, keeping alive expectations Beijing will need to unleash even more stimulus.

• Analysts expect cutting debt and boosting confidence to be the main focus of a key economic leadership meeting in Beijing this week, although solving one of those problems may make it difficult to fix another.

• China's two key commodity exchanges, including the SHFE, will halve their hedging fees for listed products to lower users' costs and increase participation in the world's biggest consumer of commodities.

• Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday on worries about a slowing Chinese economy crimping demand, though a growing consensus that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin cutting its key interest rate as soon as September limited declines.

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

• The yen JPY=EBS was weaker in early trading after touching a one-month high against the dollar at 157.165 per dollar on Monday. It was last at 158.54, with traders wary of further intervention from the Japanese authorities.USD/

• A weaker currency makes yen-denominated assets more affordable to overseas buyers. FRX/

• The front-month August rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform STFc1 last traded at 160.8 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.1%.

($1 = 158.5500 yen)

($1 = 7.2651 yuan)

Reporting by Gabrielle Ng; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee

For morning and afternoon prices at Thailand's state-run central rubber market, click on RUB-BKK3.
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