TOKYO: Japanese rubber futures climbed on Monday, recovering from an 8-1/2-week low, as a rally in Shanghai futures prompted fresh buying amid hopes for demand pick-up in top buyer China despite the country’s slack economic indicators.

The Osaka Exchange rubber contract for October delivery finished up 3.1 yen, or 1.3%, at 244 yen ($1.9) per kg. Last Friday, the contract dived to the lowest since March 15 of 240.4 yen.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for September delivery rose 275 yuan to finish at 13,070 yuan ($1,922) per tonne, shrugging off weak economic indicators in China.

“We’ve seen a technical rebound in OSE, tracking Shanghai’s gains,” said Jiong Gu, an analyst at Yutaka Trusty Securities Co Ltd.

“But an overall tone remained bearish as automobile production stayed slow in Japan and capacity utilisation at Chinese tyre manufacturers hovered at low levels due to the COVID lockdowns in China,” he said.

China’s retail and factory activity fell sharply in April as wide lockdowns confined workers and consumers to their homes and severely disrupted supply chains, casting a long shadow over the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy.

Chinese financial authorities on Sunday allowed a further cut in mortgage loan interest rates for some home buyers, in another push to prop up its property market and revive a flagging engine of the economy.

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

Singapore’s financial markets were closed for a public holiday.