Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rose for a third day as strong Japanese stock prices and a weaker yen prompted fresh buys, leading to the first weekly gain in five weeks. The TOCOM rubber contract for May delivery finished 0.4 yen higher at 203.8 yen ($2) per kg. For the week, it climbed 4 percent, its first weekly gain since mid-November.
The front-month December contract expired at 184.0 yen. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 70 yuan to finish at 12,430 yuan ($1,999) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for January delivery last traded at 147.7 US cents per kg, down 0.1 cent.