Japan Stock Market May Extend Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 675 points or 1.4 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 49,300-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index jumped 658.04 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 49,299.65 after trading between 48,965.78 and 49,435.31. Among the actives, Nissan Motor shed 0.48 percent, while Mazda Motor retreated 1.45 percent, Toyota Motor climbed 1.16 percent, Honda Motor eased 0.09 percent, Softbank Group soared 5.69 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial slumped 1.22 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 0.35 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial dipped 0.15 percent, Mitsubishi Electric improved 1.26 percent, Sony Group lost 0.27 percent, Panasonic Holdings advanced 1.18 percent and Hitachi rallied 3.16 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened solidly higher on Friday and remained well in the green throughout the trading day and all hit fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 472.52 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 47,207.12, while the NASDAQ rallied 263.07 points or 1.15 percent to end at 23,204.87 and the S&P 500 added 53.25 points or 0.79 percent to close at 6,791.69.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of a closely watched report on consumer price inflation that increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates in the coming months.

While most U.S. economic data has been postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing government shutdown, the Labor Department released a report showing consumer prices increased less than expected in September.

Buying interest was also generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from big-name companies like Ford (F), Procter & Gamble (PG) and Intel (INTC).

Crude oil prices dipped Friday on profit taking following large gains a day earlier. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery slipped $0.17 or 0.3 percent to $61.62 per barrel; for the week, crude surged 7.8 percent.