Rubber climbed for the first time in three days as car sales rose in Europe and Japan’s currency weakened after the Asian nation’s trade deficit widened more than expected.

The contract for delivery in April on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange climbed as much as 1 percent to 261 yen a kilogram ($2,608 a metric ton) and traded at 259.5 yen at 10:28 a.m. local time.

European new car sales rose 4.6 percent in October, marking the first consecutive monthly gain since 2011, data showed yesterday. The yen dropped to 100.22 a dollar, nearing a two-month low, as Japan’s trade deficit expanded to 1.09 trillion yen last month, extending a record run of shortfalls to 16 months. A weaker yen boosts the appeal of yen-based futures.

“The car sales increase added to expectations that rubber demand will keep expanding,” said Kazuhiko Saito, an analyst at broker Fujitomi Co. in Tokyo.

Japan’s imports climbed 26.1 percent from a year earlier, while exports gained 18.6 percent. The yen’s slide against the dollar has boosted profit forecasts of exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp.

Rubber for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 0.5 percent to 19,330 yuan ($3,172) a ton. Stockpiles monitored by the bourse expanded 6.1 percent to 163,604 tons last week, the highest level since November 2004.

Thai rubber free-on-board lost 0.3 percent to 78.35 baht ($2.47) a kilogram yesterday, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com