Rubber Gains as Oil Rally Boosts Demand Outlook, Yen Declines

By Jae Hur

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Natural rubber futures climbed for a second day after crude oil advanced, increasing the cost of making the rival synthetic product used for tires and tubes.

Futures in Tokyo reversed earlier declines as oil rose as much as 1.9 percent and Asian stocks gained on speculation the U.S. government will raise its stake in Citigroup Inc. to ease the financial crisis and revive economic growth. The Japanese currency fell, making yen-based contracts more attractive to investors.

“Crude oil’s gain helped rubber recover from early losses,” Jun Nishimuta, an analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, said today by phone. The yen’s weakness against the dollar also pushed Tokyo rubber futures higher in late trading, he said.

Rubber for July delivery closed up 1.3 percent at 135.9 yen a kilogram ($1,440 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. The contract earlier fell to 131.1 yen after dropping 6.6 percent last week. The spot February contract expired at 123.6 yen today, compared with the January contract expiry last month at 125 yen.

Crude oil for April delivery rose 1.4 percent to $40.57 a barrel after reaching $40.80 in New York electronic trading. Synthetic rubber is made from naphtha, distilled from petroleum.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained as much as 1.3 percent to 77.02. The Japanese currency declined by as much as 0.9 percent against the dollar.

May-delivery rubber on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most-active contract, jumped 2.3 percent to close at 13,110 yuan ($1,917) a ton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Singapore at jhur1@bloomberg.net