Tokyo rubber futures hit record high

Key Tokyo rubber futures hit a record high on Friday in a holiday-thinned market, with sentiment helped by tight supply and a rise in oil prices above $90 a barrel the day before. The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for June delivery, which debuted on Wednesday, rose as high as 418.5 yen per kg as of 0103 GMT. That was up 5 yen or 1.2 percent from Wednesday's settlement of 413.5 yen.
Japanese financial markets were closed on Thursday for a national holiday. The most active Shanghai May rubber futures were trading at 37,500 yuan a tonne on Friday. The contract closed at 37,175 yuan a tonne on Thursday, up 590 yuan from Wednesday's close of 36,585 yuan.
Oil surged above $91 a barrel to its highest price in more than two years on Thursday when Opec member Libya's apparent lack of concern over prices prompted some analysts to predict a new year's tilt at $100. The euro held its ground against the Swiss franc early in Asia on Friday after having staged a rebound overnight in what traders said was a correction following a series of record lows this week. Japan's economic growth will slow in the fiscal year from April to only half the pace of the current year due to weak exports and consumption, but consumer prices will stop falling after three years of declines, the government said.