Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rallied for a third day on Thursday, hitting a 5-1/2-week high, buoyed by technical buying and short-covering on the back of strong market momentum reflecting firmer Tokyo equities and a weaker yen, dealers said.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for August delivery finished 3.0 yen or 1.9% higher at 164.7 yen (US$1.44) per kg. It earlier hit a high of 165.1 yen, the highest since Jan 25 when the benchmark scored the highest this year.
"Investors' risk appetite has grown, helped by a strong market momentum, especially after the benchmark cleared a technical ceiling of 160 yen on Tuesday," a Tokyo-based dealer, who declined to be named, said.
Japanese stocks rose to 3-1/2-week highs on Thursday, as risk appetite improved following the release of upbeat data on U.S. jobs and a rally in oil and other commodities, which burnished sentiment globally.
U.S. private employers added 214,000 jobs in February, above economists' expectations, suggesting solid job growth despite market turmoil and worries about a slowing global economy, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.
The dollar was back above 114.00 yen, up 0.5% at 114.05 and moving back toward the previous day's two-week high of 114.56.
A weaker yen makes yen-denominated assets more affordable when purchased in other currencies.
"It seems the market will try a January high of 166.3 yen and 170 yen after that," the dealer said.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery rose 165 yuan to finish at 10,675 yuan (US$1,631.66) per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for April delivery, last traded at 122.0 U.S. cents per kg, up 3.6 cent.
