Tokyo, Shanghai rubber futures gain on July 19

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures rose for a fourth straight session on Friday, in line with Shanghai futures, on short-covering and better US auto sales in June. The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for December delivery rose 0.5% to 185.1 yen ($1.72) per kg. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery closed up around 1% at 10,685 yuan ($1,554.95) per tonne. "US auto sales went up in June, and we're still seeing some short-covering," said a Singapore-based trader.

TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for January delivery was at 153.1 yen per kg. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 142 US cents per kg, up 0.6%. Japan's exports to the United States rose 4.8% in the year to June, up for the ninth straight month, driven by semiconductor-making equipment and cars, trade data on Thursday showed.

The US dollar was last quoted at 107.65 yen, compared with 107.29 on Wednesday. Oil prices rose on Friday as tensions brewed again in the Middle East after a US Navy ship destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, a major chokepoint for global crude flows. Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average rose 2%.