Rubber advanced for a second day to the highest in two weeks as a decline in the Japanese currency raised the appeal of yen-based contracts and on speculation demand may recover for the commodity used in vehicle tires. Futures in Tokyo gained as much as 2.5 percent to 167.8 yen a kilogram, the highest since May 15. The yen fell to a two-week low against the dollar as Asian stocks trimmed losses, restoring confidence among investors to buy higher-yielding assets. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, will raise its workforce to boost hybrid car output, the Nikkei reported today. “The declining yen gave the largest support to rubber futures,” Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Okachi & Co., said today in a telephone interview. “News about Toyota also improved the outlook for car and tire sales.” Natural rubber for November delivery, the most-active contract, gained 2.0 percent to settle at 167.0 yen a kilogram ($1,726 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. Toyota will increase its workforce by about 20 percent at a domestic plant as its third-generation Prius hybrid car drew more than 100,000 orders within 10 days of its debut, the Nikkei newspaper reported. Prius output is expected to reach about 50,000 units a month from June, up 20 percent from a previous plan, the paper said. Futures also increased as shippers in Thailand, the world’s largest producer and exporter, raised rubber prices to foreign buyers after heavy rains disrupted plantation work in the country, Shigemoto said. Thai shippers offered RSS-3 grade rubber for July shipment at $1.68 a kilogram today, up from $1.65 on May 25, he said. The Shanghai Futures Exchange was closed for a holiday.

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