Key TOCOM rubber futures rose 1.7 yen on Wednesday buoyed by Thai plans to start intervening in the market in mid-February and resisting pressure from a strong yen.
The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for July delivery ended up 0.5 percent at 316.6 yen per kg after rising to an intra-day high of 319.7 yen.
The bellwether contract in January posted its biggest increase since 2009, after the Thai government approved a 15 billion baht plan to buy rubber from farmers at 120 baht per kg and a senior Thai Agriculture Ministry official told Reuters the scheme would start in mid-February.
"Following the news on intervention by the Thai government, investors are cautious about selling at levels below 320 yen," a trader said. The benchmark contract climbed for a second consecutive session, despite the yen rising to a three-month high against the dollar on Wednesday. A strong yen usually puts downward pressure on TOCOM rubber futures. The yen advanced to 76.11 yen to the dollar on trading platform EBS. That was its highest since October 31, when it hit a post-World War Two peak of 75.311 yen, prompting massive yen-selling intervention by Japanese authorities.