Rubber advanced to a three-month high on optimism that demand will improve as oil climbs, increasing the appeal of the commodity used to make tyres.
The contract for delivery in May on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose as much as 1.5% to 287.9 yen a kilogramme ($2,797 a metric ton), the highest level for a most-active contract since Sept 9. Futures traded at 285.8 yen at 11:28am local time, paring losses to 5.5% this year.
Reports on Monday may signal growth in factory output for the euro region and the US, according to Bloomberg surveys, after Japan’s Tankan index beat estimates, indicating confidence among large manufacturers was the highest since 2007.
"Rubber climbed on expectations that demand will improve and the Chinese government will continue to build up stockpiles,” Gu Jiong, an analyst at commodity broker Yutaka Shoji Co, said by phone from Tokyo.
Japan’s new vehicle tire sales gained 9.7% on year in November to 4 million units, after rising 10% a month earlier, according to Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association in Tokyo.
The contract for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was little changed at 19,890 yuan ($3,276) a tonne. Thai rubber free-on-board added 0.6 percent to 83.45 baht ($2.60) a kilogramme on Dec 13, the highest since September, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.