Japan Stock Market May Crack Resistance At 35,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had slumped almost 210 points or 0.7 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 34,870-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on easing concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve's independence. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow that lead.

The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index jumped 648.03 points or 1.89 percent to finish at 34,868.63 after trading between 34,682.28 and 35,142.12.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 4.36 percent, while Mazda Motor spiked 3.00 percent, Toyota Motor soared 5.00 percent, Honda Motor jumped 2.34 percent, Softbank Group strengthened 2.16 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial improved 3.34 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 1.75 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial climbed 1.81 percent, Mitsubishi Electric rallied 1.95 percent, Sony Group surged 5.68 percent, Panasonic Holdings increased 1.97 percent and Hitachi gained 4.61 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Wednesday; they came off the day's highs but still finished solidly in the green.

The Dow soared 419.59 points or 1.07 percent to finish at 39,606.57, while the NASDAQ rallied 407.63 points or 2.50 percent to close at 16,708.05 and the S&P 500 jumped 88.10 points or 1.67 percent to end at 5,375.86.

Stocks surged early after President Donald Trump appeared to soften his stance on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Trump's attacks on Powell had led to anxiety on Wall Street about the Fed's independence.

The president also suggested he's willing to take a less confrontational approach to trade talks with China, predicting the current 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports will "come down substantially."

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders continue to express concerns about recent volatility in the markets triggered largely by Trump's words.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Wednesday after reports suggested that OPEC may accelerate oil output hikes in June for a second consecutive month. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery tumbled $1.52 or 2.4 percent to $62.15 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will see preliminary Q1 numbers for gross domestic product later this morning. GDP is expected to add 0.1 percent on quarter and 0.2 percent on year after expanding 0.1 percent on quarter and 1.2 percent on year in the three months prior.

Closer to home, Japan will release March numbers for producer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting no change at an annual 3.0 percent.