* The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for January delivery

finished 0.3 yen ($0.0028) higher at 169.1 yen per kg

* The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery rose 35 yuan ($4.96) to finish at 10,555 yuan per tonne

* The rise came even as the imminent launch of China's new TSR 20 rubber futures on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange pressures prices

* The U.S. dollar was quoted around 105.94 yen, compared with around 106.06 yen on Thursday afternoon

* Oil prices inched higher on Friday as expectations of more OPEC production cuts provided some support, although concerns over the long-running U.S.-China trade dispute kept a lid on gains

* Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average was up 0.44%

* TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for February delivery closed up 0.5 yen at 142.5 yen per kg

* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for September delivery last traded at 131.1 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.2%