TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) – Key Tokyo rubber futures rose on Friday, taking cues from firmness in the oil market and a weaker yen, snapping a three-day losing streak.
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for August delivery <0#JRU:> rose 5.7 yen or 2 percent to settle at 290.3 yen per kg. The contract settled higher for the first time in four sessions, after hitting its lowest closing level since Feb. 15 on Thursday.
* The benchmark contract shed about 2 percent for the week, mainly driven lower by the yen’s strength.
* Asian physical rubber prices were little changed on Friday, with Thai RSS3 back at a 58-year high, supported by tight supply and higher TOCOM futures prices, traders said. [ID:nSGE62402S]
* Oil climbed nearer $81 on Friday, with a gain in Asian shares helping crude pare losses made a day earlier on a stronger dollar. [O/R]
* A rise in oil prices makes synthetic rubber more expensive, helping to bolster demand for natural rubber as an alternative.
* The yen slipped on Friday as Asian shares climbed and China reaffirmed its easy monetary stance, leading short-term players to buy higher-yielding currencies.
* The dollar rose against the yen and was supported versus other major currencies as investors grew cautious about selling the greenback too far on the view that some may previously have been too pessimistic ahead of U.S. payroll numbers due later in the day. [USD/]
* A weaker yen boosts sentiment as it inflates the value of yen-priced TOCOM futures.
* While Japanese crude rubber stocks inched up as of Feb. 20, deliverable rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell by 6.0 percent in the week ended Thursday, the exchange said on Friday. [ID:nBJD003554]
* India’s natural rubber production dropped 4.3 percent in the first eleven months of 2009/10 due to adverse climatic conditions, forcing tyremakers to double imports, a senior Rubber Board official said. [ID:nMBI006405]

Souce: Reuters

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