TOKYO: Japanese rubber futures rose on Friday, recovering from an eight-month low hit earlier this week, on hopes that top buyer China will provide more support to underpin its post-Covid-19 economic recovery, but they still booked a weekly loss.

Osaka Exchange’s rubber contract for December delivery finished up 1.0 yen, or 0.5%, at 214.9 yen ($2.0) per kg. For the week, it booked a 0.7% loss, its third consecutive weekly decline, amid fears of a resurgence of the pandemic around the globe.

China’s economy grew slightly more slowly than expected in the second quarter, weighed down by higher raw material costs and new Covid-19 outbreaks, as expectations build that policymakers may have to do more to support the recovery.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery jumped 315 yuan to finish at 13,570 yuan ($2,098) per tonne.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for August delivery last traded at 166.2 US cents per kg, up 1.4%.

Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.3% from a week earlier, the exchange said on Friday.