RUBBER-Tokyo futures hit 7-mth high as yen weakens

Key TOCOM rubber futures rose to a seven-month high on Monday as the yen slumped against the dollar after a conservative party that has pledged to aggressively easing monetary policy won a landslide victory in Japanese elections on Sunday.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May delivery was changing hands up 5.6 yen, or 2 percent, at 282.0 yen per kg.

* The May contract earlier rose to 282.8 yen, the highest for any benchmark since May 14.

* Rubber has been supported by a weaker yen, which makes yen-denominated assets more affordable when purchased in other currencies.

* The victory by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had ruled the country for most of the past 50 years before it was ousted in 2009, will usher in a government pledged to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear energy policy despite the 2011 Fukushima disaster and a potentially risky recipe for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to boost growth.

* China will maintain steady economic polices in 2013, leaving room for manoeuvre in the face of global risks while deepening reforms to support long-term growth, the official Xinhua news agency said after an annual policy-setting conference on Sunday.

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MARKET NEWS

* The yen slumped to its lowest in over a year-and-a-half against the U.S. dollar on Monday as part of a broad skid after the LDP's victory.

* Japan's Nikkei average climbed 1.3 percent to an eight-month high in early trade on Monday, boosted by the weaker yen.

* U.S. crude oil futures extended gains on Monday to around $87 a barrel amid hopes for higher demand from China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer.