Tokyo rubber up on China’s stimulus policies on April 10

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures rose on Wednesday, tracking strong Shanghai futures, amid hopes from China's stimulus policies to promote car consumption. The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for September delivery finished 4.3 yen ($0.0387) higher at 191.9 yen per kg.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery rose 230 yuan ($34.24) to finish at 11,955 yuan per tonne.

TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for October delivery closed up 2.1 yen at 172.8 yen per kg.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for May delivery last traded at 153 US cents per kg, up 0.5 percent.

"Prices rose as the state issued some policies to promote car consumption," said Hu Ding, analyst with China Futures Research

"But the rise will likely be limited, as we still have to see whether consumption will actually go up following the policies," Hu said.

The US dollar quoted around 111.14 yen, compared with around 111.12 yen on Tuesday afternoon.

Oil prices inched up on Wednesday amid supply cuts by producer group OPEC and US sanctions on oil exporters Iran and Venezuela, but pressured by expectations that an economic slowdown could soon dent fuel consumption. Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average was down 0.53 percent.