Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rose 2.4 percent on Tuesday, backed by the strength in Shanghai futures, with a record-high yuan also prompting Chinese investors to buy Japanese commodities, brokers said.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for March delivery rose 6.3 yen, or 2.4 percent, to settle at 270.8 yen ($2.76) per kg.
The contract jumped as high 2.8 percent to 272.0 yen in early trade, the highest since Sept. 27, on hopes that a deal would soon be reached to end the U.S. budget impasse that has cast a shadow over the global economy.
"Today's gains are mostly due to strong Shanghai futures," said a broker in Tokyo who declined to be named. "China's domestic currency situation is driving up Shanghai rubber and also encouraging China to buy in Japanese commodities."
China's yuan hit a record high for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as traders braced for the possibility the currency's trading band could be widened ahead of a key economic meeting in early November.
The most active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery rose 375 yuan to finish at 21,175 yuan ($3,500) per tonne.
TOCOM sixth-month rubber may rise to 306.70 yen per kg in three months, driven by a wave C, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said on Monday.
