Rally May Stall For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, surging more than 1,120 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 43,710-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky as investors wait for developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and flat and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the automobile producers and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index climbed 336.00 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 43,714.31 after trading between 43,390.22 and 43,835.12.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 3.03 percent, while Mazda Motor jumped 1.73 percent, Toyota Motor rallied 1.72 percent, Honda Motor strengthened 1.56 percent, Softbank Group climbed 1.12 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial stumbled 2.55 percent, Mizuho Financial surrendered 2.22 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial tanked 2.30 percent, Mitsubishi Electric improved 1.49 percent, Sony Group tumbled 2.54 percent, Panasonic Holdings rose 0.26 percent and Hitachi dipped 0.16 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened mixed but moved little, hugging the line all day and ending on opposite sides.

The Dow shed 34.30 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 44,911.82, while the NASDAQ rose 6.80 points or 0.03 percent to close at 21,629.77 and the S&P 500 eased 0.65 points or 0.01 percent to end at 6,449.15.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders kept an eye on the White House, where President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders.

The meetings at the White House come after Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday which failed to result in a concrete agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine.

On the U.S. economic front, the National Association of Home Builders reported a modest deterioration by U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of August.

Crude oil priced climbed on Monday as investors focused their attention on the meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents amid rising geopolitical tensions surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.60 or 0.96 percent at $63.40 per barrel.