Nikkei May Open To The Upside Again On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days 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 above the 37,050-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting, especially among the oil and technology companies. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the automobile producers and financial shares, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index improved 263.07 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 37,053.10 after trading between 36,594.04 and 37,154.39.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 1.72 percent, while Mazda Motor rose 0.39 percent, Toyota Motor climbed 1.01 percent, Honda Motor rallied 1.36 percent, Softbank Group advanced 1.03 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial spiked 2.22 percent, Mizuho Financial jumped 1.79 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 1.34 percent, Mitsubishi Electric soared 3.59 percent, Sony Group improved 0.83 percent, Panasonic Holdings fell 0.25 percent and Hitachi sank 0.52 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday and continued to accelerate as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 674.62 points or 1.65 percent to finish at 41,488.19, while the NASDAQ rallied 451.07 points or 2.61 percent to close at 17,754.09 and the S&P 500 jumped 117.42 points or 2.13 percent to end at 5,638.94.

For the week, the Dow plunged 3.1 percent, the NASDAQ tumbled 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 slumped 2.3 percent.

The rally on Wall Street saw traders pick up stocks at reduced levels after the steep drop on Thursday, which dragged the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 down to their lowest closing levels in six months - and also sending the S&P into correction territory.

In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a substantial deterioration in consumer sentiment and a surge by inflation expectations in the month of March.

Oil prices climbed higher on Friday as worries about excess supply in the market eased after the U.S. government announced fresh sanctions on Iranian oil and shipping. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.63 or 1 percent at $67.18 a barrel.