SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures rose on Wednesday, tracking gains in the Shanghai market, as expectations of greater policy support to foster an economic recovery in China amid the recent easing of strict COVID-19 curbs lifted demand sentiment.

The Osaka Exchange rubber contract for May delivery was up 2.6 yen, or 1.1%, at 231.6 yen ($1.71) per kg as of 0200 GMT, after hitting its highest since Oct. 11.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery was up 230 yuan, or 1.8%, at 13,150 yuan ($1,889) per tonne. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei share average opened up 0.18%. Hopes have grown in recent weeks that rubber demand in top buyer China will improve as more cities relax Covid-19 restrictions. China’s National Health Commission (NHC) will as of Wednesday stop reporting new asymptomatic Covid-19 infections.

When China’s leaders gather this month to set next year’s economic agenda, they will likely map out more stimulus steps, eager to underpin growth and to ease disruptions caused by a sudden end to Covid-19 curbs, policy insiders and analysts said. Japanese manufacturers’ mood soured in the final quarter of 2022 to the lowest in nearly two years, a central bank survey showed, as cost pressures and the prospects of slowing global demand clouded the outlook for the world’s third-largest economy.