Tokyo rubber dips 1 pct to below 345 yen

TOKYO, July 7 (Reuters) - Tokyo rubber futures fell 1 percent to hover slightly under 345 yen on Monday, taking a cue from a dip in crude oil prices.

* At 0100 GMT, the key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for December delivery <0#JRU:> was trading at 344.1 yen per kg, recovering a touch from an earlier slide to 342.8 yen, down 4.1 yen or 1.2 percent.

* U.S. crude futures were hovering above $144 a barrel, trading below an all-time high of 145.85 hit on Thursday, amid simmering tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

* The dollar edged up against the euro on Monday as investors waited for hints this week from top Federal Reserve officials on the future path of U.S. monetary policy. It was mostly steady against the Japanese currency at 106.83 yen <JPY=>.

* Japan's crude rubber inventories fell 11 percent to 9,510 tonnes in the 10 days to June 20, the Rubber Trade Association of Japan said on Friday.

* A trader in Thailand's Hat Yai rubber centre said late last week that rains in Thailand, the world's top producer, have stopped, meaning that tapping could resume and supply was likely to return to normal by late July. (Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Chris Gallagher)