Rubber advanced to the highest in a year as a drop in the Japanese currency boosted the appeal of yen-denominated contracts and U.S. jobless data stoked optimism the economic recovery will be sustained. Futures in Tokyo climbed as much as 3.5 percent to the highest price since Oct. 7, 2008. The yen dropped against the dollar for the first time in five days after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. is ready to “tighten” monetary policy, raising the appeal of U.S. assets. The country’s jobless claims fell to a 10-month low, government data showed yesterday. “Upbeat economic data boosted risk appetite of investors, leading them to buy stocks and commodities,” Takaki Shigemoto, a commodity analyst at research and investment company TOS in Tokyo, said today by phone. “A weaker yen is also positive for futures in Tokyo.” March-delivery rubber gained as much as 7.4 yen to 219 yen a kilogram ($2,461 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange before trading at 214.4 yen at 11:45 a.m. local time. Prices are poised for the biggest weekly gain since August. January-delivery rubber on the Shanghai Futures Exchange surged as much as 7 percent to 18,880 yuan ($2,766) a ton, the highest level since Aug. 31, and last traded at 18,580 yuan. The Shanghai market chased a rally in Tokyo after a one-week holiday, Shigemoto said. The yen fell to 89.06 per dollar at 11:31 a.m. in Tokyo from 88.39 in New York yesterday. Bernanke said in prepared remarks at a Board of Governors conference in Washington that “as economic recovery takes hold, we will need to tighten monetary policy to prevent the emergence of an inflation problem down the road.” To contact the reporter on this story: Aya Takada in Tokyo atakada2@bloomberg.net

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