Japan Shares May Open In The Red On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has finished lower in two of three sessions since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 370 points or 1 percent. The Nikkei 225 now rests just shy of the 36,800-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains negative on concerns over tariff and on the health of the world's economy. The European and U.S. markets were down again and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financial shares and technology stocks were offset by support from the automobile producers.

For the day, the index shed 235.16 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 36,793.11 after trading between 35,987.13 and 36,793.11.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 1.39 percent, while Mazda Motor rallied 2.14 percent, Toyota Motor stumbled 2.63 percent, Honda Motor added 0.42 percent, Softbank Group tanked 3.74 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial retreated 1.41 percent, Mizuho Financial plunged 3.69 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial declined 1.40 percent, Mitsubishi Electric surrendered 3.23 percent, Sony Group tumbled 2.00 percent, Panasonic Holdings slumped 2.65 percent and Hitachi dropped 2.11 percent.

The lead from Wall Street remains soft as the major averages opened mixed but trended generally lower throughout the day before ending in the red.

The Dow tumbled 478.23 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 41,433.48, while the NASDAQ shed 32.23 points or 0.18 percent to close at 17,436.10 and the S&P 500 sank 42.49 points or 0.76 percent to end at 5,572.07.

Stocks tumbled as trade war concerns have escalated with the U.S. and Canada slapping tariffs on each other's goods.

Markets now await U.S. reports on consumer and producer price inflation, as well as readings on consumer sentiment and inflation expectations this week for further direction.

Oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday, bouncing back fairly well on a weaker dollar after dropping to six-month lows in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April added $0.22 or 0.3 percent at $66.25 a barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release February figures for producer prices later this morning. Producer prices are expected to slip 0.1 percent on month and rise 4.0 percent on year after adding 0.3 percent on month and 4.2 percent on year in January.