Tokyo rubber jumps 2.7 pct in dealer-driven rally

By Risa Maeda

TOKYO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Tokyo rubber futures jumped 2.7 percent to end at the day's high on Thursday in a rally towards the close, aided by gains in other commodities futures as dealers rushed to unwind short positions.

Like other commodities, rubber had been hit by a recent slide in oil prices, but the damage was relatively light amid weather concerns in the producing region and due to a prolonged political crisis in Thailand, the world's top producer.

Embattled Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said on Thursday he plans to hold a national referendum to end a crisis over a street campaign against the government. But analysts said the plan appeared to be a tactic to buy time and predicted that uncertainty was likely to persist. [ID:nSP329169]

"The Thai factor has been propping up rubber here," said Takashi Ogura, a director at Kanetsu Asset Management Co.

"But today's strong performance was rather triggered by a rally in other commodities toward the close, like gold, platinum and gasoline," he said, referring to yen-based futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, all of which had hit recent lows this week.

The key TOCOM rubber contract for February delivery <0#JRU:> closed at 316.5 yen per kg, up 8.3 yen from Wednesday, after reversing an early fall to a one-week low of 306.4 yen.

On Monday the contract hit a one-month high of 324.9 yen.

Falling rubber inventories in Japan mean that the TOCOM market remains in backwardation. Nearby September closed Thursday up 4.7 yen at 340.7 yen.