(RTTNews) – The Japanese stock market has climbed higher in two straight sessions, jumping more than 370 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Nikkei now sits just above the 55,620-point plateau although the rally may stall on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on surging oil prices and the ongoing war in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and automobile producers, while the technology companies were mixed.
For the day, the index gained 342.78 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 55,620.84 after trading between 54,513.43 and 55,686.56. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 3.35 percent, while Mazda Motor perked 0.17 percent, Toyota Motor advanced 0.98 percent, Honda Motor rallied 2.13 percent, Softbank Group strengthened 1.60 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 0.90 percent, Mizuho Financial added 0.65 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial gained 0.57 percent, Mitsubishi Electric tumbled 1.78 percent, Sony Group spiked 2.75 percent, Panasonic Holdings vaulted 1.46 percent and Hitachi lost 0.60 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained under water throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.
The Dow dropped 453.19 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 47,501.55, while the NASDAQ tumbled 361.31 points or 1.59 percent to close at 22,387.68 and the S&P 500 sank 90.69 points or 1.33 percent to end at 6,740.02.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid an extended surge by the price of crude oil. Crude oil has skyrocketed over the past week as the U.S.-Iran conflict spreads across the Middle East, leading to concerns about a global energy crisis.
Crude oil prices surged on Friday after Qatar warned of a production halt in the gulf as the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has heavily disrupted energy supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $9.88 or 12.20 percent at $90.89 per barrel.
As the Middle East conflict entered its seventh day, Israel intensified air strikes on Iran, while the U.S. said its attacks on Iran are going to “surge dramatically.”
Negative sentiment was also generated by the watched Labor Department report showing U.S. unemployment unexpectedly in February. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent in February from 4.3 percent in January.
Closer to home, Japan will see January results for current account and for its leading and coincident indexes later today, plus February data for bank lending. In December, the current account surplus was 729 billion yen, while the leading index was up 1.1 percent on month and the coincident slipped 0.6 percent. Bank lending climbed4.5 percent on year in January.
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