SINGAPORE, April 17 (Reuters) -

• Japanese rubber futures edged down on Wednesday amid lower oil prices, although a slew of automobile production expansions limited losses.

• The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for September delivery JRUc6, 0#2JRU: was down 3 yen, or 0.95%, at 311.3 yen ($2.01) per kg as of 0139 GMT.

• The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery SNRv1 was down 65 yuan, or 0.45%, at 14,510 yuan ($2,004.75) per metric ton.

• Oil prices eased in early trade as worries about global demand due to weak economic momentum in China and fading hopes for U.S. interest rate cuts in the near term outweighed supply fears on heightened tensions in the Middle East. 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.

• Chinese exporters are having to contend with heightened economic and political tensions between Beijing and Washington as well as a slowdown in global trade due to the war in Ukraine and a worsening Middle East crisis.

• The manufacturing sector is also plagued by excess capacity.

• Japan's exports grew for the fourth straight month in March driven by U.S.-bound car shipments, although business confidence at big firms soured amid a slump in the yen and signalled that a sure-footed economic recovery was some time away.

• China's Chery Auto has signed a joint venture deal with Spain's EV Motors to produce cars at its first factory in Europe.

• Japan's Honda Motor 7267.T plans to launch six next-generation electric vehicle models branded Ye in China by 2027.

• The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for May delivery STFc1 last traded at 161.4 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.2%.

($1 = 154.6300 yen)

($1 = 7.2378 yuan)

Reporting by Cassandra Yap; Editing by Rashmi Aich

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