Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures closed up 0.5 percent on Friday as short covering later in the session helped reverse early losses, while Thailand's intervention scheme and planned export curbs by top producers also supported prices. The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for January delivery rose 1 yen to settle at 221.3 yen ($2.82) per kg. For the week, the contract rose 0.1 percent, but is still down 16 percent so far this year.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for September delivery last traded at 253.50 US cents per kg, down 1.2 cents. "The market was pulled lower by oil in the morning, but Thailand's intervention and the producers' planned export curbs are helping stem the losses," a Tokyo-based trade source said. "With the yen a tad weaker, participants who had held short positions bought back on short-covering." The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery rose 40 yuan to finish at 21,770 yuan ($3,400) per tonne.