Rubber climbed to the highest level in four months as rain limits supply in Thailand, the largest exporter, and after a report showed U.S. companies added more jobs than forecast last month.

Futures in Tokyo gained as much as 1.5 percent to 302.5 yen per kilogram ($3,594 a metric ton), the highest level since April 30. The price also advanced as Japan’s currency retreated against the dollar, raising the appeal of yen-based contracts.

“Supplies remain low as persistent rainfall in Thailand disrupted tapping, reducing production,” Varut Rungkhum, analyst at commodity broker Agro Wealth Ltd., said by phone from Bangkok. “U.S. jobs data also provided support,” he said.

Investor appetite for riskier assets increased as U.S. private payrolls climbed by 67,000 in August, more than the median forecast for an increase of 40,000 in a Bloomberg survey of economists. President Barack Obama this week will urge Congress to permanently extend and expand a research-and- development tax credit to encourage job growth, according to two administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity before the announcement.

“U.S. jobs data and expectations for Obama’s additional economic measures gave support to equities and commodities markets,” Kazuhiko Saito, an analyst at Tokyo-based broker Fujitomi Co., said today by phone.

February-delivery rubber settled at 301.9 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.

Asian stocks extended a global rally as jobs data in the U.S. eased concern that economic growth is faltering. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced as much as 1.6 percent to 121.94, the highest level in four weeks. The yen declined to 84.50 per dollar from 84.31 in New York.

Oil Drops

Gains in rubber futures were limited as oil declined for a second day, reducing the cost of making rival synthetic products used in tires. The October contract lost as much as 0.7 percent to $74.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

January-delivery rubber on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed as much as 1.6 percent to 26,645 yuan ($3,925) a ton, the highest level since July 2008, before settling at 26,540 yuan. The price extended gains for a fourth day as accelerated growth in Chinese car sales raised the demand outlook.

Retail deliveries of cars, sport-utility vehicles and multipurpose vehicles expanded 59 percent last month from a year earlier to 977,300, according to the China Automotive Technology & Research Center. The pace of growth expanded from 15.4 percent in July as incentives by dealers outweighed government measures to cool the economy.

Natural-rubber inventories expanded 1,119 tons to 25,820 tons, based on a survey of 10 warehouses in Shanghai, Shandong, Yunnan, Hainan and Tianjin, the bourse said Sept. 3.

The Thai cash price gained 0.7 percent to 108.20 baht ($3.48) per kilogram, tracking gains on the Tokyo market amid limited supply, the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand said on its website today.

Source: Bloomberg

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