Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures jumped for a second day on Thursday, hitting a more-than-seven-week high, on signs of easing Sino-US trade tensions and expectations that China will step up efforts soon to support its cooling economy. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for May delivery finished 4.2 yen, 2.6 percent, higher at 168.9 yen ($1.49) per kg.
The TOCOM futures, which sets the tone for rubber prices in Southeast Asia, touched an intraday-high of 169.4 yen, the highest since Oct. 22, earlier in the session. TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for June delivery also surged 2.3 percent to close at 149.7 yen per kg.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery rose 185 yuan to finish at 11,365 yuan ($1,655) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for January delivery last traded at 125.3 US cents per kg, up 1.1 cent.
Chinese companies have made their first major purchases of US soybeans - a commodity at the heart of the trade spat - in more than six months, Reuters reported on Wednesday, while Beijing also appeared to have toned down a high-tech industrial push that has long irked Washington.