(Corrects settlement figure in 2nd para to 274 yen, not 240 yen)
TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) - Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures fell 0.3 percent on Friday, ending the month with a 6.5 percent decline, unsettled by demand concerns over the euro zone issues after the Cyprus bailout.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for September delivery fell 0.9 yen to settle at 274.0 yen per kg.
The TOCOM market touched a three-month low of 269.5 yen on March 18 after reaching 303.3 yen on March 11, its highest since Feb. 21.
"The market was little changed due to a lack of overseas investors' participation due to a holiday," said a Tokyo-based broker who declined to be named.
Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.5 percent from last Friday, the exchange said on Friday.
Japan's factory output unexpectedly dipped in February and a fourth consecutive drop in core consumer prices underscored the challenges the central bank faces in engineering economic recovery and achieving its 2 percent inflation target.
Thailand, the world's biggest rubber producer and exporter, will continue cutting exports for another two months after a scheme agreed with Indonesia and Malaysia expires at the end of March, a senior government official said on Thursday.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 135 yuan to finish at 22,165 yuan ($3,600) per tonne.
Singapore's SICOM exchange was closed due to a public holiday.
($1 = 94.0200 Japanese yen) ($1 = 6.2143 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Bijoy Koyitty)
