Losses May Accelerate For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,730 points or 3.4 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 49,300-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over relations between the United States and China, while tech shares are also likely to be weak. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Nikkei finished barely lower on Wednesday as losses from the financial shares and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the automobile producers.

For the day, the index slipped 8.27 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 49,307.79 after trading between 48,613.70 and 49,458.28. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 3.39 percent, while Mazda Motor rallied 2.61 percent, Toyota Motor spiked 3.29 percent, Honda Motor soared 4.35 percent, Softbank Group plunged 4.90 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial skidded 1.19 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 0.14 percent, Mitsubishi Electric fell 0.18 percent, Sony Group shed 0.41 percent, Panasonic Holdings dropped 0.97 percent, Hitachi sank 0.62 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened flat but gradually turned lower as the day progressed and finished solidly under water.

The Dow stumbled 334.33 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 46,590.41, while the NASDAQ sank 213.27 points or 0.93 percent to end at 22,740.40 and the S&P 500 slumped 35.95 points or 0.53 percent to close at 6,699.40.

The slump by the tech-heavy NASDAQ was partly due to a steep drop by shares of Netflix (NFLX) and Texas Instruments (TXN) after disappointing earnings news.

The major averages fell to their lows of the session following reports that the Trump administration is considering a plan to curb an array of software-powered exports to China.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday on news that the proposed U.S.-Russia summit to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war has been shelved. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $1.28 or 2.24 percent at $58.52 per barrel.