TOKYO: Japanese rubber futures closed higher for the third straight session on Wednesday, matching gains on the Shanghai market after strong industrial output and retail sales data from China boosted sentiment.

The Osaka Exchange's rubber contract for February delivery finished 1.4 yen, or 0.8%, higher at 184.6 yen per kg. It was the highest closing price since Sept. 3.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery rose 0.8% to finish at 12,475 yuan per tonne.

Industrial output in China, the world's biggest rubber user, increased by the most in eight months in August, while retail sales grew for the first time this year, suggesting the country's economic recovery from the COVID-19 health crisis is gathering pace.

Also buoying prices was a vote on Wednesday by parliament to confirm Japan's new ruling party leader, Yoshihide Suga, as prime minister and his appointment of a "continuity cabinet" to continue his predecessor Shinzo Abe's so-called Abenomics agenda to revive the world's third-largest economy.