Fears that slack Chinese growth would cause a hard landing for rubber were eased yesterday after Greece reached a new austerity deal, soothing concerns that Europe's economy would stall.
A slowing of car sales had pushed the commodity to new lows, as sales data from car makers pointed to poor demand from China, the world's biggest car market, amid decelerating economic growth.
But rubber bounced back from a one-week low as the price of oil increased, raising the appeal of the commodity, after the Greek prime minister, Lucas Papademos, won parliamentary approval for austerity measures to secure an international bailout.
The July-delivery contract gained as much as 0.8 per cent to ¥317.5 a kilogram before settling at ¥316.6 on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. It fell to ¥311.9 in after-hours trading on Friday, the lowest level since February 3.
"Rubber tracked gains in energy and equity markets amid easing concerns about the Greek bailout," said Kazuhiko Saito, an analyst at the broker Fujitomi in Tokyo.
Futures were also buoyed by expectations of a decline in production from South East Asia, said Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
China's monthly passenger-vehicle deliveries declined the most since 2005, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
An earlier-than-usual Lunar New Year holiday season has led to slack sales at retailers across China.
Natural-rubber imports by China were 140,000 tonnes last month, according to the country's customs agency. That compares with 210,000 tonnes in December and 150,000 tonnes a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
May-delivery rubber in Shanghai gained 0.3 per cent to close at 28,395 yuan a tonne.
* Bloomberg News