* The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for December delivery finished unchanged at 177.2 yen ($1.64)  per kg

* The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery, however, rose 0.4% to finish at 10,735 yuan ($1,563.36) per tonne

* "We're seeing some short-covering as prices are pretty low already," said a Singapore-based trader

* "Fundamentally, we are also seeing a steady supply increment while demand is not so good as the biggest user China is still going through a trade war with the U.S.," the trader said

* The U.S. dollar was last quoted at 108.02 yen on Thursday afternoon, compared with 108.46 on Wednesday

* Oil futures hit a six-week high on Thursday as oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico were evacuated ahead of a storm, while an incident with a British tanker in the Middle East highlighted ongoing tensions in the region.

* Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average was up 0.5%

* TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for January delivery closed up 2.5 yen at 153.1 yen per kg

* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 140.5 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.4%.