RUBBER-Japanese futures rise; head for second weekly loss on banking crisis concerns

* Japanese rubber futures rose for the first time in 11 days on Friday, as governments sought to bolster investor confidence amid global monetary tightening policies and banking turmoil.
* The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for August delivery was up 1.2 yen, or 0.6%, at 209.1 yen ($1.57) per kg as of 0202 GMT.
* The benchmark OSE contract is headed for its second weekly loss, down 4.6%.
* The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange (SHFE) for May delivery was down 25 yuan, or 0.21%, at 11,705 yuan ($1,697.98) per tonne.
* Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average opened up 0.82%.
* Japan posted two straight years of export gains in February, led by solid U.S.-bound shipments of cars, although expectations of a strong demand recovery are quickly fading amid global monetary tightening and banking concerns.
* Japan is closely coordinating with the Bank of Japan and financial authorities overseas to prevent fallout from the crisis of confidence engulfing banks in the West, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said.
* With the bulk of relevant economic data released ahead of their policy meeting next week, U.S. central bankers are seen pressing on with their inflation-fighting campaign with a quarter-point interest-rate hike that just days ago looked possibly derailed by turmoil in the banking sector.
* The European Central Bank also raised interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday.
* Asian markets extended a risk rally on Wall Street, after a tumultuous week that saw a brewing banking crisis plunged bond yields globally and markets sharply revised down the expectations of future rate hikes in developed world.
* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for April delivery last traded at 130.0 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.5%.
($1 = 133.3400 yen) ($1 = 6.8935 yuan) (Reporting by Carman Chew; Editing by Rashmi Aich)