Tokyo rubber surges amid Sino-US trade optimism

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures edged up on Sino-US trade optimism, despite fall of Shanghai futures.

TOCOM's rubber contract for May delivery finished 0.3 yen ($0.0028) higher at 188.5 yen per kg.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 175 yuan ($24.86) to finish at 12,505 yuan per tonne. China's new technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract was last down 115 yuan at 10,675 yuan per tonne.

TOCOM's TSR 20 futures contract for May delivery closed at 149.1 yen per kg.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for December delivery last traded at 139.1 US cents per kg, down 0.4%.

The United States and China are close to agreement on the first phase of a trade deal, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, after top negotiators from the two countries spoke by telephone and agreed to keep working on remaining issues.

The US dollar was quoted around 109.16 yen, compared with around 109.03 yen on Tuesday afternoon.

Oil eased on Wednesday following an industry report showing a surprise build in US crude stockpiles, but hopes surrounding an interim trade deal prevented a bigger drop in prices.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average was up 0.28%.