Japan Stock Market May Find Traction On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, surrendering more than 700 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 45,050-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with support from technology shares likely offset by weakness from the oil companies. The European and U.S. markets saw mild upside and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index sank 311.24 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 45,043.75 after trading between 44,890.20 and 45,152.70. Among the actives, Nissan Motor surrendered 2.75 percent, while Mazda Motor plummeted 2.47 percent, Toyota Motor and Mizuho Financial both tumbled 1.86 percent, Honda Motor plunged 3.16 percent, Softbank Group rallied 1.14 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial retreated 1.38 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial skidded 1.68 percent, Mitsubishi Electric slumped 1.27 percent, Sony Group added 0.59 percent, Panasonic Holdings tanked 2.52 percent and Hitachi perked 0.05 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but eventually managed to finish with modest gains.

The Dow added 68.78 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 46,316.07, while the NASDAQ gained 107.09 points or 0.48 percent to end at 22,591.15 and the S&P 500 rose 17.51 points or 0.26 percent to close at 6,661.21 percent.

The upswing on Wall Street reflected strength among technology stocks, with AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) jumping 2.1 percent and video game maker Electronic Arts (EA) surging 4.5 percent.

However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid concerns about a potential U.S. government shutdown ahead of a deadline later today.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday, which could impact the outlook for interest rates. But the data could be delayed if the government shuts down.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday in the wake of oversupply concerns thanks to OPEC's plans for increasing output. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $2.50 or 3.80 percent at $63.22 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will later today release August numbers for industrial production, retail sales, construction orders and housing starts. Industrial output is expected to slip 0.7 percent on month after falling 1.2 percent in July. Retail sales are tipped to rise 1.0 percent, up from 0.4 percent in the previous month. In July, housing starts were down 9.7 percent on year and construction orders tumbled an annual 19.0 percent.