SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures climbed on Wednesday, tracking strength in the Shanghai market, supported by global leaders’ decision to buttress their financial systems. The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for October delivery was up 0.9 yen, or 0.4%, at 212.9 yen ($1.58) per kg, as of 0204 GMT.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange (SHFE) for September delivery was up 120 yuan, or 1%, at 12,195 yuan ($1,764.30) per tonne.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average opened 0.18% lower. China’s passenger vehicle sales rose 2.1% in April from a month earlier, but fell 1.4% year-on-year for the first four months of 2023, industry data showed, underscoring a slower pace of growth as the stimulus effect of price cuts and incentives faded.

US President Joe Biden and top lawmakers agreed on Tuesday to further talks aimed at breaking a deadlock over raising the $31.4 trillion debt limit, with just three weeks before the country may be forced into an unprecedented default.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Tuesday it is too soon to say whether the US central bank is done raising interest rates, arguing that if more action is needed policymakers won’t hold back.

Japan’s consumer spending unexpectedly fell in March at the fastest rate in a year, while real wages marked a twelfth month of decline on persistent inflation.

Finance leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies will discuss this week ways to strengthen the global financial system, Japan’s finance minister said on Tuesday, as recent US bank failures bring the risk of digital bank runs into focus.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for June delivery last traded at 138.3 US cents per kg, down 0.5%.