Japan Shares May Hand Back Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after snapping the three-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 3,380 points or 7.5 percent. Now at another fresh record closing high, the Nikkei 225 sits just beneath the 48,600-point plateau although it's likely to see profit taking again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on waning optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the automobile producers were mixed.

For the day, the index surged 845.45 points or 1.77 percent to finish at 48,580.44 after trading between 47,995.22 and 48,597.08. Among the actives, Nissan Motor sank 0.83 percent, while Mazda Motor accelerated 1.24 percent, Toyota Motor tanked 2.04 percent, Honda Motor retreated 1.41 percent, Softbank Group surged 11.43 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 0.62 percent, Mizuho Financial perked 0.12 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial shed 0.65 percent, Mitsubishi Electric fell 0.27 percent, Sony Group rallied 2.27 percent, Panasonic Holdings soared 6.58 percent and Hitachi spiked 2.03 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened flat but quickly turned lower and spent the balance of the day in the red.

The Dow dropped 243.36 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 46,358.42, while the NASDAQ slipped 18.75 points or 0.08 percent to close at 23,023.62 and the S&P 500 sank 18.61 points or 0.28 percent to end at 6,735.11.

The pullback on Wall Street reflected profit taking following recent strength in the markets, which came amid persistent optimism about the artificial intelligence trade.

Investors may also have begun to express concerns about the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which entered its ninth day with no end in sight.

Traders also kept an eye on remarks by several Federal Reserve officials, with Fed Governor Michael Barr said the central bank should move "cautiously" due to considerable uncertainty about the future course of the economy.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday due to the possible easing of hostilities in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.10 or 1.76 percent at $61.45 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release September figures for producer prices and bank lending later this morning. Producer prices are expected to rise 0.1 percent on month and 2.5 percent on year after slipping 0.2 percent on month and adding 2.7 percent on year in August. Overall bank lending is tipped to climb 3.7 percent on year, up from 3.6 percent in the previous month.