Japan Stock Market Poised To End Its Slide

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, plunging more than 970 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now rests just above the 39,300-point plateau although it's due for support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with technology stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the technology stocks and automobile producers, while the financial sector offered support.

For the day, the index stumbled 587.49 points or 1.47 percent to finish at 39,307.05 after trading between 39,232.78 and 39,993.50.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor slumped 1.00 percent, while Toyota Motor plunged 4.29 percent, Honda Motor rallied 2.83 percent, Softbank Group added 0.53 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 0.62 percent, Mizuho Financial rose 0.31 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial added 0.48 percent, Mitsubishi Electric eased 0.07 percent, Sony Group surrendered 2.02 percent, Panasonic Holdings tumbled 1.70 percent, Hitachi advanced 0.86 percent and Mazda Motor was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Monday and largely remained that way, although the Dow dipped into the red by the day's end.

The Dow shed 25.57 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 42,706.56, while the NASDAQ rallied 243.30 points or 1.24 percent to close at 19,864.98 and the S&P 500 added 32.91 points or 0.55 percent to end at 5,975.38.

The early rally on Wall Street reflected continued strength among tech stocks after contract electronics giant Foxconn reported record fourth quarter revenue amid strong AI server demand.

Early buying interest was also generated in reaction to reports suggesting President-elect Donald Trump may scale back his tariff plans.

Crude oil prices were unable to hold early gains on Monday, snapping a five-day winning streak - although the downside was capped after top oil exporter Saudi Arabia raised prices for Asian buyers for the first time in three months. West Texas Intermediate Crude for February delivery fell $0.46 or 0.5 percent to $73.50 a barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will see December data for its monetary base later this morning, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.2 percent on year following the 0.1 percent contraction in November.