RUBBER-Japanese futures hit nearly one-month high on firmer crude, supply concerns

* Japanese rubber futures climbed to an almost one-month high on Wednesday, helped by stronger crude prices and tighter inventories amid wintering, although demand concerns lingered.
* The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for September delivery was up 3.5 yen, or 1.6%, to 214.5 yen ($1.60) per kg as of 0202 GMT, its highest since Mar. 15.
* The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange (SHFE) for September delivery was up 90 yuan, or 0.8%, to 11,990 yuan ($1,742.96) per tonne.
* Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.4 % from a week earlier, the exchange said last Friday.
* Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened down 0.14%.
* Big Japanese manufacturers remained pessimistic in April for a fourth straight month as jitters over Western banks added to slowing global growth, dimming prospects for an export-led recovery.
* Still, China's industrial output in March rose 3.9% year on year, albeit slightly below expectations, and its economy grew 4.5% year-on-year in the first quarter, official data showed on Tuesday.
* Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday as U.S. crude inventories were seen falling and on strong Chinese economic data, signalling strengthening fuel demand.
* Higher oil prices incentivise manufacturers to shift away from synthetic rubber derived from oil, spurring the natural rubber market.
* Stocks slipped on Wednesday, while the dollar was under a little pressure, as traders shifted focus from U.S. banking stress to expectations of an imminent peak in interest rates.
* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for May delivery last traded at 138.8 U.S. cents per kg, up 1.2%. ($1 = 134.2800 yen) ($1 = 6.8791 yuan)
(Reporting by Carman Chew; Editing by Sonia Cheema)