SINGAPORE, May 23 (Reuters) -

• Japanese rubber futures rose on Thursday amid a weaker yen, while favourable domestic factory data and stronger equities boosted investor sentiment.

• The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for October delivery JRUc6, 0#2JRU: was up 2.8 yen, or 0.86%, at 329 yen ($2.10) per kg as of 0200 GMT.

• The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery SNRv1 was up 100 yuan, or 0.68%, at 14,910 yuan ($2,058.43) per metric ton.

• The yen JPY= languished just above a three-week low despite the continued threat of intervention by Japanese officials. A weaker currency makes yen-denominated assets more affordable to overseas buyers. FRX/

• Japan's benchmark Nikkei average .N225 opened 0.48% higher. .T

• Japan's factory activity crept into expansion for the first time in a year in May, a business survey showed, as manufacturing gathered pace after months of weakness.

• Oil prices eased for a fourth straight day on worries that U.S. borrowing costs could be hiked again if inflation surged, a move that could hurt oil demand. O/R

• Natural rubber often takes direction from oil prices as it competes for market share with synthetic rubber, which is made from crude oil.

• Some of the steep U.S. tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports, including electric vehicles and their batteries, computer chips and medical products, will take effect on Aug. 1, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said.

• China should raise its import tariffs on large gasoline-powered cars to 25%, a government-affiliated auto research body expert told China's Global Times newspaper as the country faces sharply higher U.S. auto import duties and possibly additional duties to enter the European Union.

• The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for June delivery STFc1 last traded at 171.6 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.9%.

($1 = 156.7400 yen)

($1 = 7.2434 yuan)

Reporting by Cassandra Yap; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala

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