Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) — Rubber gained for the first time in five days after the Japanese currency fell from an eight-month high, raising the appeal of yen-denominated contracts.

Futures in Tokyo also climbed as oil advanced, boosting the cost of making rival synthetic products used in car tires. Crude traded near $67 a barrel in New York on optimism about an economic recovery in the U.S., the world’s biggest energy consumer, after equities increased by the most in five weeks. Asian stocks rose today.

“The decline in the previous four days has prompted bargain hunting,” Hisaaki Tasaka, analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker ACE Koeki Co., said today by phone. The yen’s weakness and a rally in oil prices also encouraged sentiment for rubber futures, he said.

March-delivery rubber gained as much as 2.2 percent to 198.6 yen a kilogram ($2,208 a metric ton) before closing at 197.2 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.

The yen dropped as low as 90.23 per dollar before trading at 90.05 as of 3:42 p.m. in Tokyo as Japan’s Finance MinisterHirohisa Fujii said the government may take action in markets after the currency’s gain to an eight-month high imperiled earnings of export-dependent companies.

The Japanese currency reached 88.24 yesterday, the strongest level since Jan. 23, amid speculation Japan’s new government will allow the currency to appreciate.

Crude oil for November delivery traded at $66.89 a barrel, up 5 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 3:42 p.m. Tokyo time. Yesterday, the contract rose 1.2 percent.

Rubber has gained 45 percent this year as surging car sales in China spurred investor buying. China’s passenger-car sales rose a record 90 percent last month, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

January-delivery rubber on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 2.5 percent to close at 16,890 yuan ($2,474) a ton.

Source: Bloomberg

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