TOCOM EXTENDS GAINS ON HIGHER RISK APPETITE, SLIDING YEN

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures extended gains for the third session and jumped more than three percent on Wednesday, to a fresh one-week high, as the yen's sharp fall and upbeat global stock markets helped bolster risk appetite, dealers said.

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for December delivery finished up 5.0 yen, or 3.3 percent, at 157.7 yen ($1.51) per kg, after hitting a high of 159.8 yen, the highest since July 6.

"A sharp slide in the yen was the biggest drive to the TOCOM," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research, Nissan Securities.

"Firmer equities markets in Tokyo and elsewhere in the world also lent support," he added.

The safe-haven yen had tumbled 4 percent against the dollar since the beginning of the week, its worst performance since November 2014, after Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition won a clear victory in the upper house elections, fuelling expectations of more stimulus.

A weaker yen makes yen-denominated assets more affordable when purchased in other currencies.

Asian shares came within reach of their 2016 highs on Wednesday as prospects of solid U.S. growth and accommodative economic policy in major markets whet investors' risk appetite damaged by uncertainty from Brexit.

The market paid little attention to China's trade data, Kikukawa said.

China's June exports fell by a more-than-expected 4.8 percent from a year earlier, while imports declined 8.4 percent, also missing estimates.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery soared 195 yuan to finish at 11,140 yuan ($1,665.05) per tonne.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 128.7 U.S. cents per kg, down 1.3 cent.