Natural rubber futures rose for the first time in four days as a weaker Japanese currency made the yen-denominated contracts more attractive for overseas investors. The commodity, traded globally in dollars, climbed as much as 1.6 percent in Tokyo after dropping 8 percent in the past three days on concern that the deepening global downturn will further curb car demand. Rubber is the main raw material in tires. “It is gaining today because of the stronger dollar,” Masami Aratake, a trader at Newedge Japan Inc., said today by phone in Tokyo. “We continue to hear negative news from the automobile industry.” Rubber for July delivery gained 1.2 percent to 132.3 yen a kilogram ($1,345 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at 12:56 p.m. local time. The dollar traded at 98.42 yen compared with 98.16 yen late in New York yesterday. The U.S. currency advanced on demand for a haven amid increased risk aversion, said Emmanuel Ng, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore. Australia’s economy unexpectedly shrank last quarter, a government report showed today, boosting demand for U.S. dollars. Toyota Motor Corp., facing its first loss in 59 years, suffered a record 40 percent drop in U.S. sales last month, according to a company statement, as the recession in the world’s largest auto market cut demand. The annualized industrywide sales rate was 9.12 million vehicles, the lowest since 8.8 million in December 1981, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata Corp. July-delivery rubber on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most-active contract, jumped 1.4 percent to 12,470 yuan ($1,822) a ton at the 11:30 a.m. local time break.

Source