(RTTNews) – The Japanese stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, tumbling almost 1,500 points or 3.2 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 49,380-point plateau although it may see a technical rebound on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little clarity, although any lack of general support should be limited by support from the technology shares. The European markets were soft and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index plunged 784.82 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 49,383.29 after trading between 49,355.87 and 50,051.24. Among the actives, Nissan Motor retreated 1.60 percent, while Mazda Motor tanked 2.39 percent, Toyota Motor shed 0.60 percent, Honda Motor contracted 1.52 percent, Softbank Group tumbled 1.72 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial cratered 3.17 percent, Mizuho Financial plunged 3.62 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial crashed 3.50 percent, Mitsubishi Electric stumbled 2.72 percent, Sony Group declined 1.64 percent, Panasonic Holdings plummeted 4.67 percent and Hitachi slumped 1.12 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages hugged the line from below for most of the day, although the NASDAQ managed to break into the green.
The Dow slumped 302.30 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 48,114.26, while the NASDAQ added 54.05 points or 0.23 percent to close at 23,111.46 and the S&P 500 slipped 16.25 points or 0.24 percent to end at 6,800.26.
The choppy trading on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department’s report on employment in November.
Most economists said the data has increased the likelihood the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates in the near future, but the report also raised concerns about the strength of the economy.
A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed retail sales in the U.S. were roughly flat in October.
Crude oil prices extended recent losses Tuesday on lingering oversupply concerns, especially if an end to hostilities between Russia and Ukraine could exacerbate the supply glut. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $1.57 or 2.8 percent to $55.25 per barrel.
Closer to home, Japan will release October figures for core machinery orders and November numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In September, machinery orders were up 4.2 percent on month and 11.6 percent on year. In October, imports were up 0.7 percent on year and exports rose 3.6 percent for a trade deficit of 226.1 billion yen.
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