Japan Shares Tipped To End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, dropping almost 450 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 37,750-point plateau although it may find traction on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing inflation and tariff concerns. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index stumbled 372.62 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 37,755.51 after trading between 37,633.36 and 37,876.84.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor tanked 3.87 percent, while Mazda Motor stumbled 2.15 percent, Toyota Motor surrendered 3.36 percent, Honda Motor plunged 3.90 percent, Softbank Group skidded 1.06 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial sank 0.77 percent, Mizuho Financial tumbled 2.13 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial crashed 3.17 percent, Mitsubishi Electric added 0.62 percent, Sony Group slumped 2.80 percent, Panasonic Holdings retreated 2.00 percent and Hitachi eased 0.05 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly positive as the major averages opened in the red on Thursday but rallied to finish mixed.

The Dow jumped 271.69 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 42,322.75, while the NASDAQ dipped 34.49 points or 0.18 percent to close at 19,112.32 and the S&P 500 added 24.35 points or 0.41 percent to end at 5,916.93.

The choppy trading on day came as traders digested an avalanche of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing producer prices unexpectedly decreased in the month of April.

Another report from the Commerce Department showed a slight increase by U.S. retail sales in April. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said industrial production in the U.S. was unchanged in the month of April.

Crude oil futures showed a substantial move to the downside on Thursday on reports the U.S. is very close to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran. Crude for June delivery plunged $1.53 or 2.4 percent to $61.62 a barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release preliminary Q1 numbers for gross domestic product later this morning. GDP is expected to slip 0.1 percent on quarter and 0.2 percent on year after adding 0.6 percent on quarter and 2.2 percent on year in the three month prior.