* The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for July delivery finished 4 yen, or 2.1 percent, higher at 197.5 yen ($1.78) per kg, rising for a third straight day and surging to its highest since May 23.
* "The recent rally was backed by expectations that producing countries may agree on some measures to help bolster prices and that China and the U.S. would strike a deal," said Jiong Gu, an analyst at Yutaka Shoji Co.
* "Still, it doesn't seem that the bullish trend would continue without actual deals," he added.
* Indonesia will propose implementation of the Agreed Export Tonnage Scheme (AETS) in a meeting of the top three rubber-producing countries, due on Feb. 21-22, a senior trade ministry official told reporters on Friday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that trade talks with China were going well and suggested he was open to pushing off the deadline to complete negotiations, saying March 1 was not a "magical" date.
* The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery rose 285 yuan to finish at 12,460 yuan ($1,854) per tonne, after touching an about 4-month high of 12,520 yuan earlier in the session.
* Oil prices slipped away from 2019 highs on Wednesday, with surging U.S. supply and slowing economic growth tempering upward pressure from supply cuts led by producer club OPEC and from Washington's sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.
* TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for August delivery closed up 1.4 percent at 166.1 yen per kg
* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for March delivery last traded at 144.1 U.S. cents per kg, up 2.0 percent.